tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39336319832747104032024-03-13T10:36:22.040-07:00APB Reloaded(APB) All Points Bulletin Reloaded Development Blog - the journey of turning APB into a Free2Play experienceMatt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.comBlogger205125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-78395192323729346732019-04-18T18:40:00.002-07:002019-04-18T18:40:24.700-07:00The blog has moved!Come visit the GamersFirst / APB site for current news:<br />
<a href="https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/">https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/</a>Matt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-12763164516918130172018-12-29T12:59:00.000-08:002018-12-31T14:37:34.087-08:00State Of The Game (2018)<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="State Of The Game (2018)" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/news-13-1.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
Hi everyone,<br />
<br />
As the New Year approaches, I thought it would be good to reflect on 2018, and then discuss what is planned for 2019.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Let’s take a look back at 2018:</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
This year brought a lot of change to Little Orbit. From my perspective there were many days where it felt like we were drinking from the fire hose. I appreciate the patience and help that we have received from the community. None of this would have been possible without supportive players like you.<br />
<br />
<h3>
May:</h3>
We announced our acquisition of GamersFirst and APB. It took a few weeks to sort out new forums, GDPR systems, new forum rules, new Terms of Service, and a new Customer Support site. I finished that month doing the Q&A with Kempington. For those that missed it, you can see it here <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/265424620">https://www.twitch.tv/videos/265424620</a>. This was my first experience doing anything like that, and I’m sure at least a couple memes were born that day, but overall, I had a good time.<br />
<br />
<h3>
June:</h3>
We launched BattlEye and cleaned out cobwebs from the code in order to deploy our first new build in months. I also put out our first public roadmap, which you can read here <a href="https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/6/22/apb-roadmap">https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/6/22/apb-roadmap</a>. As a quick recap, I outlined several phases including (1) Infrastructure, (2) Unification, and then (3) Critical Mechanics / Minor Content update.
I am pleased to say that for the most part we either stuck to that schedule, and in some cases we added to it.<br />
<br />
<h3>
July:</h3>
We ran our first sale for Independence Day and adjusted G1C to be 100 G1C for every $1 to make it easier for players to understand. I realize on the outside, this was a small thing, but the entire team got involved to learn how G1 pricing worked, how to give free Premium for the event, and how to message it properly to the players. We improved the Friends system, changed the networking system to help with DDoS issues, and started Weapon Balance testing on OTW. You can read that update here <a href="https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/7/30/end-of-july-update">https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/7/30/end-of-july-update</a>.<br />
<br />
<h3>
August:</h3>
This month brought us the Showstopper, an exciting new addition to our arsenal.<br />
<br />
<h3>
September:</h3>
We launched the new Trading System, made a series of fixes to long standing issues, exploits, and bugs. This month also saw a bit of a hiccup - Weapon Balance. While not our best moment, we learned a lot and we changed the way we handled major changes going forward. You can read more about that here <a href="https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/9/15/mid-september-update">https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/9/15/mid-september-update</a>.<br />
<br />
<h3>
October:</h3>
We launched our first all-new event called Epidemic and re-worked ARMAS pricing. This was a significant departure from the roadmap, and I think we surprised a lot of people. The event wasn’t flawless, but I am proud of the Little Orbit team for getting this out on a tight schedule. It was critical for us to wrap our head around building more new content, spending time on cool rewards, and then structuring good ways for players to earn them. I also started a Developer Discussion area on the forums (<a href="https://forums.gamersfirst.com/forum/112-developer-discussion/">https://forums.gamersfirst.com/forum/112-developer-discussion/</a>) to discuss big community issues like Matchmaking, Cheating, and Updates. You can read about the ARMAS changes and Epidemic event here <a href="https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/10/29/armas-marketplace-refresh-and-pricing-changes">https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/10/29/armas-marketplace-refresh-and-pricing-changes</a> and here <a href="https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/10/30/epidemic-walk-through">https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/10/30/epidemic-walk-through</a>.<br />
<br />
<h3>
November:</h3>
We launched Autumn Assault this month as an effort to try and reuse an older event with some new mechanics, and it just didn’t work as well as we planned. Ultimately, more player testing was needed. I also put out an update on the roadmap here <a href="https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/11/21/updates-on-apb-development-progress">https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/11/21/updates-on-apb-development-progress</a>.<br />
<br />
<h3>
December:</h3>
We closed out the year by re-forming the SPCT, adding two-factor authentication and the all-new Slay Bells event, which had new clothing items. I think it is our best event to date. We even did some marketing around the game. You can read about it here <a href="https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/12/7/new-apb-event-slay-bells">https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/12/7/new-apb-event-slay-bells</a>.<br />
At this point, Project #1 Infrastructure is done, and I’m also pleased to announce the Project #2 Unification is done for PC and nearly done for console. We substituted some of the Minor Content for Epidemic and Slay Bells, but I think we did well against the roadmap this year.<br />
<br />
<h3>
What’s coming in 2019:</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
There is a lot coming for APB in 2019, and this blog is already too long to map out an entire roadmap, but here are some of the highlights.<br />
<br />
1) Transitioning APB PC to Unreal 3.5
To be honest, I had really hoped to get this on OTW before year end. We are so close.. but not quite there. We just staged all of the internal testing environment, and today was the first time I was able to log into this version. I am reasonably confident that a build will go to the SPCT team in January, and then based on feedback, we might have a public OTW build sometime in February. I want to set expectations properly - there are going to be bugs, and I expect OTW testing to take a while before this gets launched for the larger community.<br />
<br />
2) New Unreal 3.5 builds for PS4 and XB1
This is the other major priority for Q1 2019. We are one library away from starting full QA testing so we can submit to Sony and Microsoft. I know we have a lot of console players who are struggling with that version of the game. I’ll continue to post updates on our progress.<br />
<br />
3) New progression to sync PC and console
Once we get all three platforms on the same code, we are going to release 2 new contacts with new in-game missions and rewards.<br />
<br />
4) ARMAS refinements and progress
The first phase was completed in October, and I’m looking to continue development here through Q1. We want to create the best place to get the cool gear you want to play your best.<br />
<br />
5) New team Challenge Mode
For those of you who participated in Epidemic and Slay Bells, you have seen the beginnings of what this mode can be. This will be a hybrid of Battle Royale and Territory Control mechanics where players get to choose the parts of the map that collapse. We are very excited about this new mode and look forward to sharing more with you as we get closer to its release some time in the first quarter.<br />
<br />
There are more exciting developments in the works, but need just a little more time before we can reveal them so stay tuned. As always, we appreciate your ongoing support and are eager to bring you the best In APB.<br />
<br />
Thanks,<br />
MattMatt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-38830352822394869632018-12-07T12:58:00.000-08:002018-12-31T14:35:27.860-08:00New APB Event - Slay Bells<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="New APB Event - Slay Bells" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/news-12.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
A cold front has arrived, and the local criminals and enforcers are taking advantage of the snow to fight for supremacy in San Paro as it slowly freezes over.<br />
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/slay-bells/slay-map.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
As each round starts, checkpoints become available to capture. Your objective is to hold at least one checkpoint at the end of every round. If you do not, your team will lose a life. Each team starts with 3 lives. If your team gets down to 0 lives, they will enter a state of sudden death where any member killed will spawn as a ghost until your team gets a point. If they do not hold a checkpoint by the end of the round, the team is eliminated. If the entire team is killed before the end of the round, the team is eliminated. If you do happen to hold more than one checkpoint at the end of a round, you will gain a life for each checkpoint held over the first.<br />
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/slay-bells/slay-capture.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
The game is played in two stages. During stage one, if your team is eliminated, the players on your team will be distributed onto teams that are remaining, but this will permanently reduce the number of teams. During the second stage, if your team is eliminated, you are out of the game. You will still be around as a ghost.<br />
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/slay-bells/slay_ghosts.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
As the game progresses, blocks are chosen to be 'frozen'. Blocks that are currently frozen over are indicated on the map. While in that block, you will take damage indicated by the distinct weather change.<br />
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/slay-bells/slay-blocks.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
This continues till there is only one team remaining. Fight for your supremacy.<br />
Special thanks to all our public play testers that helped test and submitted screenshots to help explain the event.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Here is a breakdown of the rewards:</h3>
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/slay-bells/rewards.png" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
<b>NOTE: Activities work in both the Slay Bells event district and Beacon, so you can finish in 5 days.</b>
<br />
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/slay-bells/vinyl.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/slay-bells/santassleigh.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 100%;">
<img src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/slay-bells/clothing-2.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
Matt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-23969896219559425132018-11-21T12:58:00.000-08:002018-12-31T14:34:34.018-08:00Updates On APB Development Progress<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="Updates On APB Development Progress" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/news-11.jpg?v=53414-104" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
Hi everyone,<br />
<br />
I've gotten several requests to talk about our progress on the integration of Unreal 3.5 and our goal to merge the PC and Console codebases. I'll do my best to breakdown for you where we are currently and where we are heading on our path to upgrade and sync the game's core foundation.<br />
<br />
<h3>
FIRST, A LITTLE CONTEXT:</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
THE PC VERSION: Currently, APB is running on a heavily modified version of the Unreal 3.0 codebase. APB is made up of many custom systems including the personalization tools, symbol editor, music editor, and various modes of play. Due to supporting 3.0, this older version of Unreal only supports exporting these assets in a very limited number of formats.<br />
<br />
THE CONSOLE VERSIONS: Currently, this version of APB is running on Unreal 3.5. This codebase was originally created for Xbox360 and PS3. (Epic has since funded external development to port their engine to XboxOne and PS4.) Due to this and development constraints, APB on Console is a bit more limited in scope. It was released without the music editor and minimal usability in the symbol systems. This has resulted in rendering bugs, slow frame rates and inconsistent textures.<br />
<br />
The important thing to understand is that there is a significant difference between PC and Console versions. We are working to merge the two but still have some work in front of us to actually sync the codebases and align progression paths.<br />
<br />
<h3>
SECOND, LET'S TALK ABOUT WHERE WE ARE:</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
As it has been mentioned before, I don't think this is going to be a massive upgrade visually. Some players may not even notice. However Unreal 3.5 is built for 64-bit systems, and it has a multithreaded renderer, so my hope is that it will take advantage of newer GPUs and computers.<br />
<br />
Reloaded had already done a lot of work on this upgrade before the consoles were released, however since the music editor was never included with console, it was also missing from the PC Unreal 3.5 code base. Additionally, there are also ~40 external libraries that needed to be upgraded.<br />
<br />
At this point, we have finished rebuilding the music editor and all but one of the external libraries are upgraded. After that we know there are several graphical issues, and some frame rate issues we need to address.<br />
<br />
Based on where we are in the process, I have recently started reaching out to specific community members about reforming the SPCT. Our goal here was to choose veteran players that covered a wide range of play styles who could devote time to testing with us and give in depth feedback. They are under NDA, none of them will be able to publicly discuss what they are working on.<br />
<br />
<h3>
[ ON A SIDE NOTE, PLEASE DON'T REACH OUT TO US TO JOIN THE TEAM ]</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
This early round of testing is to help us get performance stats across several hardware configurations, so we can compare against the current Unreal 3.0 PC build. It is my hope to start this in the month ahead on a locked down OTW server. From there, I really can't give an estimate on when we'll open access to that version of the game to regular players. It really depends on how testing goes. Even if we allow players onto OTW to help finish testing on Unreal 3.5 for PC in early January, I doubt this will be ready to launch publicly before the start of Spring 2019.<br />
<br />
<h3>
LASTLY, LET'S TALK ABOUT WHERE WE ARE GOING:</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
You can read more about the XboxOne and PS4 project back in my July update:<br />
<a href="https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/7/30/end-of-july-update">https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb/news/2018/7/30/end-of-july-update</a><br />
<br />
In order to update each console, we must do the following:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Upgrade the projects to the latest Visual Studio compiler</li>
<li>Upgrade the manufacturer's SDK and integration</li>
<li>Upgrade all the external libraries</li>
<li>Testing end-to-end by our QA and then fixing the defects</li>
<li>Certification testing by Microsoft and Sony and if they kick back the build, we go through a round of fixing and testing again</li>
</ol>
Last time I gave an update, we had already upgraded Visual Studio, and we had also finished the PS4 SDK. We were working on updating the XboxOne SDK, and we had about 32 external libraries to finish upgrading. As of today, we have finished upgrade the SDK, and we are down to ~11 external libraries remaining to upgrade for each console. Some of these are small and some are rather large. <br />
Unlike upgrading an external library for PC (which is mostly done), the process is a bit different for console:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Add and configure new platforms and configs for PS4 and XB1</li>
<li>Get the code to compile for PS4 and XB1</li>
<li>Modify project files for maintainability to simplify upgrading in the future</li>
<li>Hook up the game to use the new library</li>
<li>Fix any compile or link errors</li>
</ul>
It's difficult to estimate how much longer we have. There are several developers working on the external libraries now. Based on how our progress has been so far, my best guess is one more month, but it could take as long as two. That means we will potentially start testing early next year. If that happens, then we might be able to submit for certification in the February 2019 window with an update shortly thereafter.<br />
<br />
It's important to note that we just want to get the same build submitted and passed. There may be a couple small optimizations, but the plan is to pull in new content and fixes on our 2nd first party submission.<br />
<br />
That means we're currently looking at a March or April target for 2019. Given where we started, I am pleased with the progress. As we get closer, I will keep you up tp date. Thanks for joining us on this exciting journey.<br />
<br />
Thanks,<br />
MattMatt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-28279674256865557872018-11-16T12:58:00.000-08:002018-12-31T14:32:37.681-08:00New APB Event - Autumn Assault<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="New APB Event - Autumn Assault" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/news-10.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
Autumn Assault is a near 3-week event running from Nov 19th through the 4th of December. During Autumn Assault we will be running daily Gun Game matches in each district. Nearly 100 chances to win the new <strong>ACCOUNT BOUND</strong> Weapon Skin!<br />
<br />
Gun games are back but with a twist!<br />
<br />
In Gun Games matches, players are assigned a pre-set weapon. You are tasked with scoring points for that weapon. Once you meet your goal, your weapon is replaced with the next weapon in order. This will continue until you have conquered the final challenge, at which point you win the game.<br />
<br />
Here is how Gun Games matches work, in case you need a refresher:<br />
<ul>
<li><strong>Streak:</strong> In Streak, you are tasked with killing your opponents. The higher tiers require multiple kills without dying. Should you die your streak for that weapon is reset and you will need to start over from that same weapon.</li>
<li><strong>Pistols:</strong> This Gun Game is a bit different from Streak. Instead of making sure you have multiple kills in a row, in here you earn points for kills and assists and once you reach the correct score, you are given the next weapon. As the name indicates, every weapon in this game will be a pistol.</li>
<li><strong>Explosives:</strong> Explosives Gun Game works exactly the same as pistols but every weapon, except one special one, is a form of explosive.</li>
<li><strong>Joker Box:</strong> The scoring system of Joker Box is the same as Pistols and Explosives, but for this game, you are given the legendary weapons that can be found in Joker Boxes. Score kills and assists with these legendary weapons and if you win, get the top rank, and already own the Autumn Assault skin in addition to the Joker Tickets you will also be awarded 10 special consumables that can be equipped and placed on the ground. Once placed on the ground it will spin around and explode throwing a number of temporary versions of Joker Box legendaries that can be picked up by nearby players.</li>
</ul>
For players who participated but did not win the match, they will be rewarded with Joker Tickets based on how high they ranked in the event. The top 2/3rds of players will receive 100 Joker Tickets and the remaining players will receive 50 Joker Tickets.<br />
<br />
A series of three Gun Games will be spawned every day - that's three daily matches on Citadel, Nekrova and Jericho. Due to the system intensive nature of the explosive Gun Game match, we will only be running those on selected days which will be announced beforehand.<br />
<br />
The explosive game requires you to have a very good PC as well as a very good connection to the internet otherwise your game experience might be affected.<br />
<br />
The schedule for the Gun game matches will be published later this week.<br />
<br />
During the Gun game matches, we will also be having a Social Media Challenge.<br />
<br />
You will have to customize your character or your car to blend in with a background of your choosing (it must be in the game). Players will be able to redeem <strong>AUTUMNASSAULT</strong> to get 2-day premium! Read more about this challenge on our Facebook page or Twitter!<br />
<br />
<h3>
EVENT SCHEDULE</h3>
<ul>
<li>Daily 5:00 PM PST (Jericho)</li>
<li>Daily 5:00 PM UTC (Citadel) </li>
<li>Daily 5:00 PM Moscow (Nekrova) </li>
</ul>
<h3>
<br /></h3>
<h3>
UNIQUE WEAPON SKIN</h3>
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="Autumn Assault skin" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/img/autumn-assault-skin.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /><br />
<br />
<small>Autumn Assault skin</small><br />
<br /></div>
Matt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-26913331064707912762018-10-30T12:57:00.000-07:002018-12-31T14:31:20.315-08:00Epidemic - Walk Through<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="Epidemic - Walk Through" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/news-8.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
Hi everyone,<br />
<br />
<h3>
Epidemic is here!</h3>
<br />
And with it comes a nefarious plot to poison San Paro's Residents and turn them Evil! Having discovered a dangerous contagion that will turn citizens into mindless zombies, an evil corporation has paid our players to spread it amongst the masses. Unbeknownst to them however, two other corporations have had the exact same plan, and are preparing to release their own pathogens.<br />
<br />
Meet the three Epidemic teams:<br />
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="Epidemic Teams" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/epidemic-1.png" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
<br />
Here are some details and a quick rundown of how Epidemic works.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Epidemic Daily Activities:</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
We've created daily activities and rewards which will be randomly assigned once a day when entering this event. Complete these side tasks to gain extra rewards!<br />
<br />
<h3>
Start of the Game:</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
In the Epidemic District, there are three beginning territories (top, bottom left, and bottom right) that your character will randomly get spawned into and these represent the different starting points for the infection teams: Undedox, Zombicine, and Necrocite. Your team's color is in the team icon at the top of your HUD and there will be the same colored toxic gas surrounding you. Don't worry! Your team's toxin can't harm you.<br />
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="Financial Epidemic" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/epidemic-2.png" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
<h3>
<br /></h3>
<h3>
Game Goals:</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
1 Transportation of Toxin Barrels:<br />
<br />
These are immediately available in your team's starting zone and need to be transported to neutral areas in order to spread your team's infection. Be warned: these barrels are filled with corrosive chemicals and can only temporarily carry the your team's virus. Once you pick up the barrel, it will slowly degrade and then eventually explode. They will take time to fully infect a neutral territory and they can also be destroyed by gunfire, which makes them vulnerable to attack. More barrels will spawn in captured territories, which will help you take your virus to even further places across the map. These barrels will be visible on your map as barrel icons.<br />
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="Transportation of Toxin Barrels" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/epidemic-3.png" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
2 Conquer Neutral Territories:<br />
<br />
When the game starts there will be neutral territories that spawn and noted on your map as task checkpoints (shaped like a baseball diamond). Also, their borders will be blue. To start, there will be six neutral zones that need to be captured by placing your toxin barrel within its boundaries. As the teams increase their infection percentages, more neutral areas will become available for you to infect. The more areas your team controls the faster you'll reach 100% infection.<br />
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="Conquer Neutral Territories" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/epidemic-4.png" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
3 Protect or Destroy Captured Territories:<br />
<br />
As soon as a toxin barrel is placed down inside a territory, the borders will change to the color of the team who is currently infecting it. Every captured territory will spawn a large barrel bundle somewhere within its borders and they keep the area infected. Once this bundle is destroyed, the territory will become neutral again and available for other teams to capture. These bundles are built with stronger materials and do not degrade over time. They are difficult to destroy and they are surrounded by toxic gas that will harm enemy players.<br />
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="Protect or Destroy Captured Territories" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/epidemic-5.png" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
<h3>
<br /></h3>
<h3>
End Game:</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
1 The fight to control Havalynd Central Memorial Park:<br />
<br />
The first team to reach 100% infection will spawn the territory that needs to be infected to win. In order for your team to win Epidemic, they must reach 100% infection and capture the park.<br />
<br />
2 Reached 100% infection:<br />
<br />
If the park is still neutral, then all you have to do is lay down a small barrel and wait for it to complete it's infection timer to win. If the park is captured by an enemy team that's not at 100% infection, you must make the park neutral again before capturing it to win.<br />
If your team is not at 100% infection yet, don't give up. Your team can still capture the territory, forcing the enemy teams to make it neutral again. Protect the captured territory to buy your team time to reach 100% infection and have a shot at stealing the win!<br />
<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="End Game" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/epidemic-6.png" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
Thanks,<br />
MattMatt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-20709642427239778922018-10-29T12:57:00.000-07:002018-12-31T14:29:07.793-08:00ARMAS Marketplace Refresh And Pricing Changes<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="ARMAS Marketplace Refresh And Pricing Changes" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/news-9.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
The first phase of the new Store Front be rolling out shortly so we wanted to take a moment a let you know about it.<br />
<br />
Our initial focus has been on readability and discoverability for a more enjoyable browsing experience. You will notice the main (featured) page has been redesigned and modernized with the following changes:<br />
<div style="margin: 20px 0 30px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="New Armas Marketplace" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/img/new-armas-marketplace.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
<ul>
<li>FEATURED CAROUSEL - We now have featured items rotating atop the main page to highlight the new and cool items available.</li>
<li>LARGER ITEM CARDS - In addition to being bigger, items on the main page are now categorized and scrollable for better browsing.</li>
<li>STREAMLINE NAVIGATION - The navigation bar as been updated to reflect how users search, grouping similar categories. </li>
<li>WEEKLY FEATURED ITEMS – Check back each week, because we have started featuring selected items with a limited time discount.</li>
<li>OVERALL PRICE DROPS – We took the time to review the first batch of our pricing and have standardized in a number of categories, bringing down the overall cost by as much as 20-50%!</li>
</ul>
More is coming in the weeks ahead. We will be refreshing the individual item pages in addition to the presentation of the items themselves so stay tuned. We hope you enjoy this and continue to look forward to making ARMAS that best place to get all your APB gear.Matt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-41761865215577395432018-10-10T12:56:00.000-07:002018-12-31T14:28:35.021-08:00Getting back to the Fun<div style="margin: 20px 0; text-align: center; width: 97%;">
<img alt="Getting back to the Fun" src="https://media.gamersfirst.com/gamersmedia/apb/news-7.jpg" style="max-width: 100%;" /></div>
Hi everyone,<br />
<br />
We're now exactly five months into taking over the game. Lots of work has gone on behind the scenes with new forums, new website, new anti-cheat, improved DDoS protection, new Trading System, new Weapon Balance, and a slew of other smaller changes.<br />
<br />
The work on unifying the code in Unreal 3.5 is ongoing, but the holidays are here, and I want to re-focus on the most important part of APB that we haven't spent a lot of time on... Fun. APB is a game, and we haven't been great about offering players anything new in a while. So we're changing that.<br />
The team did some brainstorming, and we were able to take some bits and pieces of RIOT mode and work some overtime to turn them into some new events for this year's holiday season.<br />
<br />
That's right.<br />
<br />
From October through December, players will be able to engage in NEW modes and content to earn special rewards.<br />
<br />
There is a lot coming up, so for this update, I'm just going to focus on October and November.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Halloween Costume Contest</h3>
Next week we are going to announce the rules and rewards for our Halloween creative contest. This will be a fun way to get into the spooky spirit leading up to our first major new holiday event.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Epidemic Event <sub><sup>(PC)</sup></sub></h3>
Happening in late October, a nefarious plot begins to poison San Paro's Residents and turn them Evil! Having discovered a dangerous contagion that will turn citizens into mindless zombies, an evil corporation has paid our players to spread it amongst the masses. Unbeknownst to them however, two other corporations have had the exact same plan, and are preparing to release their own pathogens.<br />
Players are assigned to one of three teams, each starting in one corner of the district. From here, they will work together to carry poison barrels throughout the district, protecting them until they can infect each block. This takes over the block for your team, and provides the team more barrels to carry and spread the toxins further. Be the first team to reach 100% infection rate in the district and capture the central block to win the event.<br />
<br />
Complete unique Daily Challenges during this event and level up your Epidemic role. Keep coming back to gain access to new spooky rewards and a second chance to win some that you may have missed in previous years.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Headless Horseman <sub><sup>(Xbox One & PS4)</sup></sub></h3>
Starting on October 30th, the pumpkins and Headless Horseman will return to San Paro. The rules are simple: <br />
<ul>
<li>Collect X amount of pumpkins to become the HORSEMAN and start the event).</li>
<li>The HORSEMAN must kill other players to convert them HORSEMAN'S army (SOLDIERS).</li>
<li>SOLDIERS must kill other players to recruit them into the HORSEMAN'S army.</li>
<li>SURVIVORS must avoid being killed, till time runs out (Timer Ends).</li>
</ul>
NOTE: Survivors blip on the Horseman's army's radar when the bell tolls, signifying that the Horseman Event is coming to an end...keep fighting, running or hiding to survive.<br />
<br />
<h3>
New Gun Games <sub><sup>(PC)</sup></sub></h3>
Starting in November, GMs will be entering action districts and starting one of several variations of the Gun Games event. Compete with other players to kill with each weapon in a number of uniquely themed weapon sets. Participating in the Gun Games will earn you Joker Tickets, and winning the event will win you the coveted Butcher Weapon Skin.<br />
<br />
Stay tuned, and we'll be releasing more details on all of these events as we get closer.<br />
<br />
Thanks,<br />
MattMatt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-82583919430032888382018-09-15T19:32:00.002-07:002018-09-19T07:26:34.634-07:00Mid-September updateHi everyone,<br />
<br />
I'm very excited to walk through the next big patch coming on 9/19 for PC. I'll get to console at the end. We are making progress, but unfortunately we're not in a position to submit to Microsoft or Sony yet.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Patch 1.19.7</h2>
<h3>
Weapon Balance</h3>
One of the biggest things <b>tentatively</b> scheduled for the patch is the Weapon Balance. Again, I take responsibility for how poorly this was handled. I got excited and rushed it out, and then we slapped a bad Band-Aid on it to gain the time to properly finish. I know Beastie has put in a lot of time tweaking stats to help shape the meta where we want it, and I feel like after weeks of testing, we're very close.<br />
<br />
<b><u>On Sunday 9/16 we are going to have another 'Play with the devs' event.</u> </b><br />
<br />
Please come join us on Jericho in the prototype A district at 12PM noon PDT.<br />
<br />
Above, I said we are 'tentatively' rolling out these changes, because while we hope this will be the last test before we patch shotguns and rifling, we also are open to the idea that we could still get major feedback and need to remove Weapon Balance from the patch.<br />
<br />
I know sometimes we get quiet, or it feels like we're not listening. I assure you that is not the case. It is just sometimes hard to jump on the forums each day to communicate everything that is happening in real-time.<br />
<br />
The exact plan for the patch is to integrate the Test-A changes to Shotguns along with the improvements to Rifling. There are specific other weapon changes/nerfs that we are not ready to rollout yet. The shotgun changes partially retract some of the things we did previously, keeping their benefit while reducing the extreme effectiveness we’ve been seeing with them on live in the last couple of weeks. The changes also allowed us to tweak in other ways, reducing the fire rates of the JG and CSG, allowing them to be effective at close range while now clearly losing out to SMGs in a straight up TTK fight, necessitating dodging or cover to gain an edge. Rifling is now partially percentage based, which helps it affect longer range weapons more.<br />
<br />
For Weapons the changes from 1.19.6 are:<br />
<ul>
<li>Strife: Damage 55 (from 80). Total Damage 931 (from 858). Effective Range 15m (from 7.5m) Min Damage Range 25m (from 15m). </li>
<li>CSG: Damage 40 (from 70). Total Damage 620 (from 614). Fire Interval 0.77 (from 0.68). Spread 75 (from 85). Ramp Distance 10m (from 7.5m). </li>
<li>DOW: Damage 60 (from 80). Total Damage 424 (from 471). Pellet Scale 0.9 (from 0.86)</li>
<li>JG: Damage 85 (from 140). Total Damage 775 (from 700). Fire Interval 0.73 (from 0.68).</li>
<li>Shredder: Damage 65 (from 100). Total Damage 394 (from 482). Fire Interval 0.42 (from 0.37)</li>
</ul>
For Improved Rifling the changes from 1.19.6 are:<br />
<br />
Upside Changed from +2.5m, +5m, +7.5m to +5% then +1m, +10% then +2m, +15% then +3m<br />
<ul>
</ul>
<div>
NOTE: We also fixed an issue with hitreg that will be in this patch.</div>
<h3>
Trading System</h3>
<div>
Other than BattlEye, this is the first entirely new system that we've added to the game. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We hit a couple unexpected snags, so it's a bit later than I had hoped. But I'm very proud of the team for the design, and I'm genuinely excited to roll it out.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This system will allow players to directly trade weapons and in-game money without any system tax. It has been on OTW for a little over a week, and my goal is help reduce the number of scam tickets for Support that are very intensive to solve. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
NOTE: There may still be bugs and exploits. I want to caution players from attempting to take advantage of a flaw they might find. Please just let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible. </div>
<h3>
Exploit Fixes</h3>
<div>
The last major part of this patch is a series of fixes for long standing exploits in the game. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I want to thank our new Associate Producer ShyLO, Androvald, and several community members who sent us thoroughly documented exploits and how to reproduce them. This has enabled us to address a number of long standing hacks players have been using to cheat in-game.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2>
Future Items</h2>
<h3>
Console & Unreal 3.5 Progress</h3>
<div>
Next, I thought I would take some time to walk through exactly where we are with console and Unification, so players have a better sense of what we're working on. Fortunately a lot of what we're doing to get console back on track also helps with the Unreal 3.5 upgrade for PC since they share the same codebase.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
First, in order to submit a new console build, we have to integrate Microsoft and Sony's SDKs (Software Developer Kits) that allow the game to work on those platforms. It's been long enough now that we are at least 2 major versions behind the current libraries. Neither group will allow us to submit until we update. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But to get the new SDKs to work, we had upgrade all the supporting "External" libraries that are also used by the game. There 65 externals that all needed to be updated, altered to work, recompiled, and then tested. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We have now fully upgraded all 65 of those libraries and re-integrated with the game. We're working through the XB1 and PS4 SDKs to get those working now.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once we have that done, then we'll do a round of testing, submit the build to our console publisher, and then it will get submitted to Microsoft and Sony. Hopefully, if we have done everything correctly, they will approve the builds, and we can push them live.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>NOTE: these builds wont have any of the new features or content that we have introduced since we took over</b>. These are just updated versions of what is already on the platforms. There might be small improvements based solely on upgrading the libraries, but it's important that we get the cobwebs cleared for console just like we did for PC. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This will also be the basis of the PC Unreal 3.5 build.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
From there we have about 56 GPU/Engine optimizations that were shelved by previous Reloaded developers before we took over. Each of these need to be examined and either implemented correctly or removed. These optimizations will help the game run better on PC and console. They involve a bunch of different things like memory management, scene management, texture quality, optimizing draw calls, instancing, and other more modern ways of rendering games.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We also have a couple 3D art tasks that need to be finished, and we need to implement a couple missing systems like the Music Editor for Unreal 3.5.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once these are done, we will likely try to submit another build for XB1 and PS4 which contain these improvements.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Then we'll port all the new features and content like the Trading System, Weapon Balance, Showstopper, new Network Code, and more into the Unreal 3.5 source. That needs to get tested, and that will be the first build for XB1 and PS4 that will have content updates.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This is likely where we will open up access to the PC Unreal 3.5 version for Premium players on a special version of OTW, so we can start beta testing and collecting bug reports.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The last piece of the puzzle for Unification and PC Unreal 3.5 is to align the progression between console and PC. Since there were differences, Reloaded changed the rewards on contacts to give out different things. <b>We plan on implementing two new contacts across all platforms to balance things out and make sure they are aligned again.</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br /></div>
<div>
Many players have asked me "When will Unreal 3.5 launch?" and so far I have avoided the question because I didn't have good enough clarity on all the steps. However, I'm going to answer it to the best of my ability today.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It is my sincere hope to finish all of this before the end of the year. Just know that there are a million places along the way that might change that schedule.</div>
<br />
<br />
As always, we appreciate your support.<br />
<br />
Thanks,<br />
MattMatt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-45819853040837048582018-07-30T15:51:00.000-07:002018-07-30T16:34:22.039-07:00End of July UpdateHi everyone,<br />
<br />
First, let me express my appreciation for the patience you guys have shown with Little Orbit as we ramp up on APB. We are new at this point, and we're learning. Despite some pretty big networking infrastructure challenges this month, we are making progress.<br />
<br />
Second, last month I posted our Roadmap. If you didn't get a chance to review, you can see it here: <a href="https://apbreloaded.gamersfirst.com/2018/06/apb-roadmap.html">https://apbreloaded.gamersfirst.com/2018/06/apb-roadmap.html</a><br />
<br />
Lastly before I get started, I'm more interested in clear communication than I am about hype. Today we're not talking about the new mode or Unreal 4. I think it's far more important to update the players on our progress in the Roadmap including a brief update on XboxOne and PlayStation 4 development.<br />
<br />
<b>Build 1.19.6 is now available to all players on our Open Test World. Once you log in and create your account, you'll have a bunch of in-game emails waiting with all the weapons in the game to play with. In order to access that system, you need to download an alternate installer for the game. You can download the OTW version of APB here:</b><br />
<a href="http://apb.patch.ot.gamersfirst.com/APB_OTW_Installer.exe"><b>http://apb.patch.ot.gamersfirst.com/APB_OTW_Installer.exe</b></a><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">General update for Project #1 - Infrastructure:</span></b><br />
<b></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
For May and June, we focused on 1.19.5 updates that cleaned up leftover issues from G1. For July, I am pleased to announce that we are opening access to our first major update to PC (1.19.6).<br />
<br />
This build includes some quality of life changes along with some basic new content including:<br />
<br />
<b>- Improvements to networking</b><br />
This is an ongoing effort to help clean up some of the last changes G1 made back in September of 2017. We've made several changes that need to be tested in a larger environment, and we're going to experiment with opening districts back up to 100 players.<br />
<br />
<b>- Fixes to Friends system</b><br />
We found several bad problems with this system that allowed players to grief other players. You will now need to accept friend invites before a friend is added to your account. No other players can see your exact location till you accept the invite - including on the player search feature.<br />
<br />
Alongside this fix we are opening the ignore list for all players to the max size instead of continuing the practice of charging for expanded slots.<br />
<br />
NOTE: This will require us to wipe friends list once we push it into production.<br />
<br />
<b>- Overall weapon balance pass</b><br />
I've posted about these changes on our forums, so I wont go into detail in this blog, but you can review my original post here.<br />
<a href="https://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/2439-upcoming-weapon-balance-changes/">https://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/2439-upcoming-weapon-balance-changes/</a>
<br />
These changes are in Baylan A and Baylan B when you log in. Please excuse the weird messaging in Baylan B, we'll fix that in the next couple days. The weapon balance is different between these two districts. We are A B testing them, so try both.<br />
<br />
As I said on the forums, the overall goal was to focus on positive weapon changes and help build distinction between categories so we can make sure each of them feel different. This is a little exploratory for us, and it's just a first pass. I expect there will be a couple rounds of iterations before we find the sweet spot. We hope you'll get on OTW, test the changes, make notes on how everything feels, and then let us know.<br />
<br />
<b>- New weapon: Showstopper</b><br />
Lastly we've introduced an entirely new gun. This is our first piece of new content. It's important that it was small and manageable for us to learn how to get it in properly. We'll be providing more details on this gun shortly.<br />
<br />
Stats are not final. We'll be adjusting these over the next couple days.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhro16CHD-ZaP3gosPdtK3nAbxm7VC4EpiaOjp9zWLkBueykhuZTc1j07ftCeXnUQ_yHbN-3Re2G8majgaHV5qb-5ERFWGPCRQ51fHioW4jaFINeq9cthBNIRk5eP5pTVqWTciTefntwWaF/s1600/showstopper.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1600" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhro16CHD-ZaP3gosPdtK3nAbxm7VC4EpiaOjp9zWLkBueykhuZTc1j07ftCeXnUQ_yHbN-3Re2G8majgaHV5qb-5ERFWGPCRQ51fHioW4jaFINeq9cthBNIRk5eP5pTVqWTciTefntwWaF/s320/showstopper.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Moving forward we are now focused on testing and deploying 1.19.6 for all players on PC.<br />
<br />
We're also making significant progress with 1.19.7 and the new trade system. I'm very excited about this feature, not only because I feel it will help promote the amazing customization system and how it applies to items in the game. But also because scam tickets account for nearly 1/3rd of our customer support issues.<br />
<br />
Here is a quick work in progress screenshot.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNRT44WgArTDBJlb0UoFCY7QA_1I3bYliuqdtdESaeLR2sHGUqCpYzh7lq5SowBIUmMF_0LZ_983j-gd51m9arSGXzGtwNgF74OrpPzKtVQK8aYZaRYSTwz90xsIwajJQdTkcBxlA6VTV/s1600/Trading.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNRT44WgArTDBJlb0UoFCY7QA_1I3bYliuqdtdESaeLR2sHGUqCpYzh7lq5SowBIUmMF_0LZ_983j-gd51m9arSGXzGtwNgF74OrpPzKtVQK8aYZaRYSTwz90xsIwajJQdTkcBxlA6VTV/s320/Trading.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">General update for Project #2 - Unification:</span></b><br />
<b></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
This project focuses on unifying all platforms on Unreal 3.5.<br />
<br />
<b>This is where I'm going to talk about PS4 and XB1. </b><br />
<b></b><br />
We are currently updating the console versions to the latest first party libraries. We're done with the Playstation 4 work, and the team is working on XboxOne. It's been a while since either platform had an update, so unfortunately we need to resubmit everything from scratch to bring them up to standard.<br />
<br />
I want to take this time to acknowledge all of the console players who have reached out with their frustrations. I feel pretty comfortable with our PC development schedule now, so my focus is to get the console platforms under control.<br />
<br />
These builds require a few extra steps than PC - which is why we haven't yet done an update. I do want to set some expectations. As soon as we're done with upgrading the XboxOne version, we'll do some internal QA. Once that passes, then we'll work with Deep Silver to submit both builds. It is my goal to get into submission by the end of August. Then it takes a couple weeks to get reviewed and pushed live. I seriously doubt we'll get an approval the first time through. <br />
<br />
Regardless I'll update the console players next month on our progress.<br />
<br />
<b>For the PC Unreal 3.5 build, we're mostly fixing fairly specialized bugs in the art and in the graphic engine pipeline. </b><br />
<b></b><br />
We are in the process of bringing on 2-3 more devs to focus on some of the remaining unification tasks. These sorts of issues are hard to give time estimates for.<br />
<br />
I'm not interested in holding this back from players. As soon as we're confident that an Unreal 3.5 build is actually playable, whether its good, bad or ugly, we will do the same thing we're doing today. We will update OTW, make that build available, and let you guys get in and play with it. <br />
<br />
You can discuss this on our forums here:<br />
<a href="https://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/3068-end-of-july-2018-update-1196-on-otw/">https://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/3068-end-of-july-2018-update-1196-on-otw/</a><br />
<br />
Thanks,<br />
MattMatt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-57504381263269255592018-06-22T11:00:00.000-07:002018-06-28T01:34:11.167-07:00APB RoadmapHi everyone,<br />
<br />
Today, I'm going to attempt to outline our Roadmap and approach, so you guys can see our priorities for what we're working on.<br />
This is a little overdue, and I apologize for that. I gave what I thought was a decent overview of the APB Roadmap on the Q&A, but since then several players have expressed that they would like to see something a bit more formal.<br />
I'm going to divide the Roadmap into Projects. Some of these occur in parallel using different teams and team members, but I'm going to list them in chronological order here.<br />
As a side note, most of this early development focuses on PC for a number of reasons. APB console currently has a different publisher, so we have to jump through some hoops when submitting those builds to Microsoft and Sony. That slows things down. But more importantly, we're trying to align the PC version with the console versions to consolidate everything on Unreal 3.5. That means that the bulk of the work is focused on PC.<br />
<br />
<b>Project #1: Infrastructure (1.19)</b>We're about halfway through this project. It's everything we feel we need to get out of the way before diving into Unreal 3.5.<br />
Version 1.19.5 (PC Only)<br />
For the month of May and June, we've been focusing on cleaning out the cobwebs. It took a little bit of time just to get a PC build through QA and out the door properly. This version focused on eliminating as many of the cheat opportunities in the game.<br />
- Integration with new client-side Anti-cheat<br />
- Some exploit fixes (coming up in the next patch)<br />
Version 1.19.6 (PC Only)<br />
This version focuses on some quality of life changes for players.<br />
- Fixes to networking to help lag<br />
- Overall weapon balance pass<br />
- Fixes to Friends system<br />
- Update to visual design of ARMAS to help with navigation<br />
- Dropping unpopular items from ARMAS<br />
Version 1.19.7 (PC Only)<br />
This version focuses on some quality of life changes for players.<br />
- New Trade System for players to move items and money back and forth without getting scammed<br />
Version 2.1.0 (Consoles Only)<br />
We need to do some basic console SDK upgrades that have to be completed before we can submit any new changes. Our goal is to get this out of the way in July.<br />
Notes on Project #1:<br />
We also plan on supporting Two-Factor Authentication in this Project.<br />
<br />
<b>Project #2: Unification (2.2)</b>This project focuses on bringing the PC version up to Unreal 3.5, and then optimizing and adding some features to the console versions. Some of this work will start in July.<br />
Version 2.2<br />
There is quite a bit here that I'm not going to specifically list. This version focuses on the remaining bits of Unreal 3.5 for PC. But it also includes:<br />
- Fix crashes on console related to memory handling<br />
- Fix level optimizations<br />
- Fix bad frame rate for dynamic lights / night lights / day night cycle<br />
- Fix level collision meshes<br />
- Add music studio to PC/console for Unreal 3.5<br />
Notes on Project #2:<br />
It looks like we will be dropping support for Windows Vista when we upgrade APB PC to Unreal 3.5. Microsoft officially stopped supporting Vista in April 2017, so it just isn't worth the extra development time for us.<br />
<br />
<b>Project #3: Critical Mechanics / Minor Content (2.2.1)</b>This isn't as far out as you think, but we have some content planned including progression changes, 1 new gun and 1 new vehicle.<br />
<br />
Alongside all of this, our 2nd team is working on Unreal 4. This will not be a short project, but it has lots of milestones along the way. We are initially focused on getting the third person shooter mechanics of APB up and running in one of the existing districts. From there we'll start layering on customization and other systems.<br />
I plan on doing regular updates to this Roadmap, and hopefully a dev blog to show off things we're excited about.<br />
<br />
Thanks,<br />
MattMatt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-15768242557397180542018-06-07T11:58:00.000-07:002018-06-07T19:59:47.929-07:00June 2018 Anti-cheat Update!<br />
Hi everyone,<br />
<br />
We're coming up on nearly 30 days, and I am excited to announce that we will be releasing our first patch.<br />
<br />
Just to set expectations there is one major outstanding bug, so I'm not 100% positive this will be ready, but with a little testing we should be ready to go. <b>We expect to lock servers at 4am Pacific / 11am UTC, and there will be 6 hours of downtime for patching and testing.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
One of our players provided these links to track the exact time in your timezone:<br />
<br />
Server going down: <br />
<a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=SERVERS+GOING+DOWN&iso=20180608T11&p1=1440">https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=SERVERS+GOING+DOWN&iso=20180608T11&p1=1440</a> <br />
<br />
Server coming back up (expected): <br />
<a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=APB+UNBAN&iso=20180608T17&p1=1440">https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=APB+UNBAN&iso=20180608T17&p1=1440</a><br />
<br />
BattlEye:<br />
<br />
This is the first big step in rebuilding this game as a fun, safe environment to play. Our new client-side anti-cheat is the biggest addition in this update. Our initial implementation should handle a majority of situations, but you can expect that we will continue tweaking this until we're happy with the results.<br />
<br />
FairFight unbans:<br />
<br />
In my Q&A I mentioned that I had done a lot of research into many of the FairFight bans, and due to a number of factors, I found many permanent bans that were either blatantly incorrect or too subjective for my comfort level. As of this release, we will be unbanning a significant of those players because it's impossible for me to tell who cheated and who didn't. For most players, you should be able to log in on Friday and access these older accounts. If you didn't get unbanned, you are welcome to send in a support ticket, but it will take some time for us to address these, so please be patient with us.<br />
<br />
Stripping unbanned accounts:<br />
<br />
The community has been very vocal about the fact that we will be unbanning known cheaters. This is unavoidable, even though we know those accounts abused the system and their opponents to their own personal gain. After some consideration, I have decided that all unbanned accounts will be stripped of the following:<br />
- APB$<br />
- Joker Tickets<br />
<br />
I realize this will also penalize some of the honest players who were banned unfairly, but it's the only way I can see to make sure we don't flood the game with accounts that have unfair advantages.<br />
<br />
Next steps:<br />
<br />
I'll be collecting notes from the devs over the weekend, and I'll post the timeline and focus of our next update soon.<br />
<br />
Thanks,<br />
MattMatt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-43279298865399158792018-05-25T17:29:00.004-07:002018-05-25T17:41:44.431-07:00Two week update: Q&A notes from my streamHi everyone,<br />
<br />
I want to start by thanking everyone who came out for the stream today. I had a great time chatting with Kempington. He was a gracious host and put a lot of behind-the-scenes effort into pulling off the broadcast. The community asked many thoughtful and direct questions, and I know he and Lixil tried to include as many as they could.<br />
<br />
Before I jump in, I want to talk a little bit of how I like to approach problems.<br />
<br />
I like clear solutions that can be largely enforced through objective systems and infrastructure. If an exploit exists, then we should be trying to fix it. Make no mistake, that doesn't give players license to abuse it. Our terms of service clearly state you should report it and that we can ban you for exploiting. However, that also means we shouldn't leave these kinds of problems around for years on end either.<br />
<br />
Here are the questions and answers from today:<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
1. Will you be changing the cheat detection? If so, will you be looking to unban players from the past? Will there be ban broadcasts in future?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
The cheating problem in APB is complex. It's a hard game. Our players like it, because it has a unique combination of gameplay that takes a while to master. Managing recoil. Leaning around cover points. Switching weapons for various conditions.<br />
<br />
Cheating robs everyone of that experience.<br />
<br />
I fully understand the desire to want to put on some training wheels to make your own gaming experience a little more fun. Wall hacking. Smooth aim. No recoil. I get it. But ask yourself what are you afraid of? Being embarrassed? Losing a match? Isn't that how we get better?<br />
<br />
We are committed to creating a fair, fun environment to play the game. So, I am very excited to announce that we are implementing Battleye as our client-side cheat solution. It's used by Fortnite, PUBG, and many other games. The implementation is mostly done, and we hope to include it in our next patch. We will be keeping our internal cheat detection and our server-side cheat detection and continue to tune them as well.<br />
<br />
Now the second part. Unbanning.<br />
<br />
This has been a complicated decision. One part of the community feels that cheaters have ruined the game and that they deserve to stay banned. The other part of the community feels they have been unjustly banned.<br />
<br />
For me, this comes down to a single question: “Has the cheating/banning policy been enforced objectively or subjectively?”<br />
<br />
In an ideal world, everything is black and white. I've spent the last couple weeks working alongside customer support, talking to players, vetting logs, and testing our cheat detection myself. <br />
The results were conclusive.<br />
<br />
Our current system is inaccurate and capable of automatically banning players who are not cheating. I also found a lot of instances where bans were enforced subjectively. That means the punishment or lack thereof was largely at the discretion of the GM or CS person. <br />
In order to grow, we need consistency.<br />
<br />
With that in mind, I am going unban a significant portion of the player base.<br />
<br />
Before you get too excited or disappointed, let's establish a couple expectations. <br />
<ul>
<li>This isn't going to happen until we release the next patch with Battleye.</li>
<li>Please do not contact support asking to be unbanned. That will happen automatically when we're ready, and then we'll message the player base.</li>
<li>We will not be unbanning players that violated other parts of our terms and conditions. For instance, credit card fraud or other forms of illegal activities. </li>
</ul>
My hope is that players will see this for the opportunity it is and come enjoy the game. If they choose to cheat, then we have given fair warning, and we will ban them again.<br />
<br />
Lastly, we will not be broadcasting, tweeting, or publicizing bans. We are not proud of banning or catching cheaters. Banning is a failure. It means someone has left the game, and while that person may have clearly violated the rules, it still means we lost a player.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
2. Can you give us a rough roadmap on what you plan on working on first? Is the Engine upgrade to 3.5 a priority/first on the list? What can we expect?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
Our project for the last two weeks has been "Infrastructure".<br />
<br />
We identified a couple key areas such as customer support, anti-cheat, and the forum systems, and we upgraded them to help provide a better base for us to grow on. The PC version has not seen a patch in 9 months. We are clearing the cobwebs, upgrading old licenses, and getting testing processes back in place. We have a little more to do on this including 2FA to help secure accounts better, and a couple other items.<br />
<br />
Our next project is "Unification".<br />
<br />
We will be completing the upgrade to Unreal 3.5, which will benefit both the PC players by incorporating a lot of optimizations that the console version received, and also improving the console version by filling out the missing features. This will also include some optimizations to help the game run better, and we will be cleaning up a lot of code.<br />
<br />
There are a slew of other things we want to do, but trying to implement any new content onto the top of what we have would be a mistake, so I prioritized this piece first. I'm not going to give a time estimate, but I will give periodic updates on our progress. I will also say that we have an entirely separate team working on the Unreal 4 upgrade. They are starting from an empty project and then migrating one system at a time.<br />
<br />
Beyond Unification, we will be focusing on "Critical Mechanics".<br />
<br />
This will be a hard core look at some of the long standing issues in the game that need fixing. <br />
Alongside this project, I'd like to do a "Minor Content" update. Just a small project to get back into the content generation tools. We'd like to get a new weapon in the game. Possibly some new clothing items. Possibly a new vehicle. I doubt they will be crazy innovative, but we need to start somewhere.<br />
And then I'd like to do a "Major Content" update.<br />
<br />
A new map and/or a new mode. We have plenty of these systems that were already in the works, and some that were nearly finished.<br />
<br />
Hopefully we will catch up with the Unreal 4 team at this point, and we'll be able to cut over.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
3. Will ARMAS pricing in the future be changed? If so how. On the subject of micro-transactions, how do you plan on tackling the Pay 2 Win stigma that’s been haunting this game for a long time?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
I have spent some time looking at this, and this is another polarizing question.<br />
<br />
I personally don't feel that APB is Pay 2 Win. The weapons don't make that big of a difference on whether you win or lose. Not every weapon can be used in every situation. A very skilled player will nearly always win regardless of whether an unskilled player has bought the best weapons they can get.<br />
<br />
However, that stigma exists for a reason.<br />
<br />
In my opinion I think the balance/costs on ARMAS do need to be examined. We have a designer coming in who will be make a pass to balance the pricing of the store. I do want players to feel that we're being fair and not trying to gouge them for money.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
4. With the upcoming changes to the CoC and ToS, what areas are going to be scrutinized the most? How will in-game behavior be moderated in the future? What’s the stance on nudity, such as player made symbols and clothing?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
I really feel like this question is better answered by Lixil, but I'll answer this question from a high level standpoint.<br />
<br />
First, you're going to see us in-game more. So expect to interact with the GMs.<br />
<br />
Second, I love the immense creativity at the heart of APB. Personalizing your character, weapons, and vehicles is one of the aspects of this game that makes it fun. Overall, I don't want to dampen that creativity. However we have limits. This is a game. Nudity doesn't have a place here, and it's not allowed. Hate speech or symbols are also not allowed.<br />
<br />
Use some common sense, and you'll be fine.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
5. De-threating. Will you be looking to tackle this phenomenon, if so how? Will changes to the threat system be made to assist this?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
At the end of the day, this comes down to proper matchmaking and creating fair fights.<br />
<br />
This is one of those long standing systems that needs to be changed. I want to dig in more deeply, but we are committed to better matchmaking.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
6. Will there be a live stream dedicated to Dev updates / Dev Vlog to show active process and work on the game?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
I love this idea, and based on the reaction to today's stream, I want to make it happen.<br />
<br />
I think the best way for us to build trust with the community is to do what we say we are going to do. Showing off progress is a great way to do that.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
7. Will the original login screen, along with some of the previous music within the game, be making a return?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
I think so - or some close variation.<br />
<br />
I need to check a couple of things like music rights to make sure we can still use that track. Admittedly I had the login screen music track playing on a loop from YouTube for a portion of May 10th. It's a great vibe to start the game with. <br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
8. Will you be addressing the poor performance and optimization on the console versions of the game?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
First, I have to apologize, because I saw the Xbox and PS4 forums, but I didn't realize they couldn't post in the main Social Discussion. We've corrected that in the new forums, so console players can better participate in the community.<br />
<br />
Second, yes. There are a bunch of areas that we should be improved on the consoles. By unifying the code base, I think we can put more attention on this. The console players need some love.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
9. Are there going to be any further extensions to the ignore/friend lists? Will this system be changed at all, if so how?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
I have spoke with the dev team, and there is a small "cost" to the database size for friends and ignores, so we can't make these lists infinite.<br />
<br />
However I'm a not a big fan of charging for more ignore or friend slots. I don't know when we will be able to address this, but I'd like to increase the size of the lists and just give that to everyone for free.<br />
<br />
Other Questions:<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
1. What is your stance on the prestige/notoriety system (bounty system). Do you plan to make any amendments to this?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
This needs work.<br />
<br />
I understand what the designers were going for, but the current system has a lot of feel-bad moments for higher skilled players. Mainly I don't think anyone outside the opposing team should be able to interfere with you when you're in a mission.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
2. Will the Refer-A-Friend system be making a return? Do you plan to make any changes to it?</h3>
<br />
I haven't given this a lot of thought yet.<br />
<br />
We do need to implement something that helps players share the game with their friends to help us grow APB.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
3. A lot of players are curious to the future of the weapon balance in this game. Do you plan on making changes to the weapons in the near future?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
This is tricky.<br />
<br />
We are going to have a designer make a pass through the game, but I would expect only minor tweaks to help balance things. My general feeling is that most weapons are decently balanced now, and its a lot easier to mess that balance up than to improve it.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
4. In the distant future, will character server transfers be possible?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
Character server transfers current have a lot of pitfalls.<br />
<br />
I wish it were an automated system, but more often than not when we move characters it screws up some aspect of their customizations. Symbols. Facial features. Clothing items. If we can solve these issues, then I would love to make this available to players with some limitations, because I think it would help our server populations, but we need to do some serious work on it first.<br />
<br />
As a side note, we will be migrating the Han players to Jericho. This wont happen immediately because of the issues I mentioned above, but I want to give the Asia/Pacific players a larger pool of players to interact with. <br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
5. Players are eager to see a proper trading system in the game be implemented. Is this a possibility?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
Yes. This comes down to infrastructure. It shouldn't be possible to scam players. That's bad system design.<br />
<br />
However, trading securely leads to other problems that we need to think through. It's possible that we may need to build in waiting periods or trade locking mechanisms to manage abuse.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
6. What plans do you have to improve the competitive scene of the game?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
I'm going to be more vague about this.<br />
<br />
There are some things in the works that I hope come to fruition. If they do, then I'll point back to this stream and say, "that's what I was talking about". But we are definitely looking at new modes for the Major Update.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
7. Are there any changes coming for Joker Boxes due to potential gambling legislation?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
For those that aren't aware, the Netherlands and Belgium have approved laws that define Loot Boxes or any randomized reward system as gambling based on specific criteria. <br />
We are watching this fairly closely.<br />
<br />
I like the Netherlands approach, because they have specific guidelines and timelines to help publishers get into compliance. Belgium not so much. Most likely we will keep the Joker Box system, but the rewards wont be tradable, which means the price may go down.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
8. Will GamersFirst approve the use of shader configs or the Advanced Launcher?</h3>
<b><br /></b>
No. This is a super slippery slope.<br />
<br />
Once we allow players to modify parts of the game, then how do we detect cheater-based changes from these more innocuous changes? That makes our investment into Battleye useless.<br />
<br />
However, I do believe GamersFirst needs to solve the problems that these things address. We need to allow players to change the color of the crosshairs in-game for colorblind people. We need to add a lower graphics processor setting to help people with less powerful machines.<br />
<br />
Thanks again to everyone who participated and volunteered questions.<br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Matthew Scott Matt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-74146000512840279092018-05-15T14:33:00.003-07:002018-05-15T15:36:44.692-07:00Changes in Community Management and Customer SupportHello G1 Community,<br />
<br />
It's Day #5, and I want to thank everyone for reaching out with their support and enthusiasm. Please know that we are reading and digesting all the feedback that has come in. I'm not quite ready to walk through our new policies, but we are making progress.<br />
<br />
We said that we would be making changes, and that starts today.<br />
<br />
NEW COMMUNITY MANAGER<br />
<br />
First, we are announcing that Tiggs will no longer be the GamersFirst Community Manager, Customer Support Manager, and Producer. <br />
<br />
She has decided to transition into an advisory/training capacity and will be helping onboard the Little Orbit staff to get everyone up to speed on the many tools and systems that go into running GamersFirst, APB: Reloaded, and Fallen Earth. Personally, I want to thank her for the years of very difficult service that she provided. At times she was a one-woman show, running all of these departments by herself. She has a dedicated set of GMs that will remain in-game to help players and respond to tickets. Over the next couple weeks we'll be adding GMs to make sure we're more available.<br />
<br />
I don't want to setup our new staff for the same problems and hard ships of the past.<br />
<br />
I've already stated that we will be announcing a new set of policies including the Forum Rules, Code of Conduct, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy. These will have simple straightforward wording designed to help players understand the rules. Our intention is to create a safe place for people to get the full enjoyment of our games, and I want our players to know exactly why corrective action occurred for any issues they might face in the future.<br />
<br />
With that in mind, I would like to introduce everyone to Lixil, Little Orbit's current Community Manager. Some of you noticed her logging in and reading the forums. Effective immediately she will be taking over management of social media, the forums, its mods, the GMs, and our volunteer programs. <br />
<br />
Also as part of this transition on Friday the 25th we will be putting up a brand new version of our forum software. The team is working hard to QA test that system now. As I mentioned in my Open Letter, we wont be deleting these forums. We will move them to a new URL, and any player who wants to repost any thread is welcome to move it over.<br />
<br />
NEW CUSTOMER SUPPORT MANAGER<br />
<br />
Second, we are announcing that Selali will be expanding his role as Little Orbit's Customer Support Manager and taking over GamersFirst Support. He will be running customer support along with his internal CS and QA team. <br />
<br />
As part of this transition on Friday the 25th we will be launching an entirely new Support Site with a new knowledge base and the ability for players to track their tickets.<br />
<br />
Lastly, I also want to acknowledge the lengthy "Questions for Matt" thread on the forums. I'm not ignoring those, as the CEO of Little Orbit I have a couple other priorities that absorb my time. But I still plan on slowly starting to answer those questions as we keep moving forward.<br />
<br />
Feel free to comment.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/408461-changes-in-community-management-and-customer-support/">Here is the forum thread for APB: Reloaded</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/408462-changes-in-community-management-and-customer-support/">Here is the forum thread for Fallen Earth</a>.<br />
<br />
I look forward to sharing more information with you soon.<br />
<br />
And of course, thank you for your patience and support. <br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Matthew ScottMatt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-26187448277930072722018-05-10T07:10:00.000-07:002018-05-10T07:10:33.373-07:00Open Letter to the APB: Reloaded CommunityHello APB community,<br />
<br />
My name is Matthew Scott and I’m the CEO of Little Orbit. <br />
<br />
Today we have announced the acquisition of GamersFirst, and the games it contains, but to go along with that announcement, I thought I would take some time and write a personal letter to the APB Reloaded community.<br />
<br />
Let me start by sharing an introduction to Little Orbit so you can get to know us. We started as a small game developer in 2003, and in the last 8 years we have grown into a small retail publisher. We are not a big studio, and trust me, you wont find any of our previous titles impressive. But over the last year, we have started taking steps to transition into the publisher we want to be.<br />
<br />
There’s been a lot of speculation over the last couple months about who would be crazy enough to take on this game. And I’m not going to try and sugarcoat it, we know that the confidence in this game is at an all time low, and odds are you haven’t heard of us at Little Orbit. But that’s OK. There’s a lot of work to do, and I’m not writing this letter to make unrealistic promises or layout a grand roadmap. Instead, I’m going to ask for your patience as we get organized and that you give us a chance to show you that we are sincere in our efforts to make APB Reloaded the game we all know it can be.<br />
<br />
I will however make one simple commitment right now. From here on out, I promise to communicate with the community on a regular basis. No more silence. Good, bad or ugly I will share where we are at.<br />
<br />
Moving forward there are a number of areas that we need to address for the long term health of this game. Some of them are sexy like new content for the game, and some are just operational changes to how the game is run that I feel need to be made. <br />
<br />
In the next 30 days, expect to see GDPR updates for GamersFirst including new privacy policies, code of conduct, and term & conditions. We will also be cleaning up the social pages, implementing a new forum, showcasing a general roadmap for the game and announcing a significant change to our banning and cheating policies.<br />
<br />
This is all critical for setting up an environment where you can give us feedback.<br />
<br />
After that we’re going to focus on content. I’ll be working on an exact roadmap that we can publish soon, but over the coming months we would like to add a new mode, maps, clothes, guns, vehicles and a new matching system for competitive play. Alongside all of that we are committed to upgrading APB Reloaded to the Unreal 4 engine. This is a long process that involves a massive rewrite of several core systems and a lot of art migration. I know that this has been talked about extensively in the past, and it has been a sore point with the community for a while. It’s going to take time. We need to start by unifying the PC version on Unreal 3.5, and then moving to Unreal 4. Personally I don’t think Unreal 4 is going to have a big impact on the look or speed of the game. It may not even be noticeable to some. But for APB Reloaded to have long-term viability, transitioning to Unreal 4 is something we need to do. <br />
<br />
I look forward to sharing more information with you soon.<br />
<br />
And of course, thank you for your patience and support. <br />
<br />
Sincerely, <br />
Matthew Scott
Matt Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00746634716063240193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-68361416032219345532017-05-17T13:16:00.000-07:002017-05-17T13:45:05.621-07:00NEW Summer Survival Event!It’s blog post time and in this blog we’re asking for feedback from our players on a few different events that we are working on. We will have different forum threads ready for your suggestions and we’re excited to read your feedback.<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<b><br /></b></div>
<b>Upcoming: Memorial Week Sale</b><br />
<br />
We’ll be having sales across all of our Platforms in celebration of our console releases and Memorial Day (US Holiday). For PC users, starting on Friday, May 19th (5 PM PDT) the Armas store will see up to 50% off on items and a 25% Instant Bonus for PayPal purchases of G1C (see <a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/404514-memorial-week-sale/" target="_blank">forum post</a> for more information). Console Users will have up to 30% off of store purchases. <br />
<br />
<b>Xbox One and PS4 performance updates </b><br />
<br />
The PS4 has seen patch and hot-fix updates to clear up the recent crash issues which has improved the PS4 experience dramatically. We are still working on the very latest patch and are aiming to launch it this week. With the work on PS4 mostly completed we are now aiming to push those fixes out to the XB1 as soon as the fixes pass cert for XB1. <br />
<br />
The team has also been working with our network provider to mitigate effects of the ongoing DDOS attacks that have been happening since our console soft launch. When we switch to mitigation, players may experience additional lag or stuttering in game play. <br />
<br />
<b>PC – NEW Summer Survival Event, with user design input</b><br />
<br />
We really appreciate our PC players hanging in there while we have been obligated to spend most of our very limited team working on the final fixes to the console versions. Now that we are finally out of the bulk of the console work, in order to get the PC players a whole new experience with the team we have in the fastest time possible, we have focused on creating a whole new event for the summer and we’ll be <a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/404516-new-summer-survival-event-design-feedback-thread/" target="_blank">gathering feedback</a> from the players on the forum threads on how we should change or improve the event as we go along. This event will need a new name and logo (<a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/404517-summer-survival-event-name-and-logo-suggestions/" target="_blank">feel free to make suggestions on the forum thread</a>) and any other feedback you’d like to provide as we work on it. The goal of the event (after taking player input) is to consider it for a new permanent game mode if it proves to be popular. Based on similar events in the past (our Halloween event with the Headless Horseman’s Army) and seeing the success of Battlegrounds and H1Z1 Survival mode, we realized we have almost all the ingredients in APB to create a gang-land survival game, and we want to your help to make this event as fun as possible.<br />
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Here’s a description of the survival event. Numbers in (parenthesis) are subject to change and will be part of the user testing, and forum feedback.<br />
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<b>Game Start</b><br />
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Requires at least (10) people in the district. After this, the survival event starts at the end of a (5 minute) timer. During this count-down new players can join the district until the timer hits 0. If at any point (70 players) enter the district it will be considered “full” and the timer will drop to (30 seconds) for immediate match countdown and start.<br />
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<b>Limitation: </b>You can only enter survival districts at the start of the round. Once a certain amount of players is reached or the timer hits 0, the district will lock and no longer be available for entry. If you get killed, you will be able to instantly join a new survival district.<br />
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<b>Game Goal and Design</b><br />
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Be the last player standing (ends at 1 player left alive and declared the winner). If you die you will be ranked in accordance with your “death number.” In the future we will create special awards for the best repeat survivors.<br />
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<b>Teams: </b>Free for all.<br />
<b>Event UI: <br />Right top:</b> Players left. <br />
<b>Notice timer:</b> Block becoming unsafe. <br />
<b>Objective text: </b><br />
In Safe area, stay alive and kill <br />
In (soon to be) Dangerous Area, get to a safe area<br />
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While active, the play field will shrink to match the shrinking number of players. This will happen every (70 to 180 seconds) automatically, or (60 seconds) once there are less than (3) players alive per current safe block. Blocks will be selected based on distance from the end-block, with some randomization involved. The status of the blocks will be available on the map. Also the block’s walls will be visualized differently between dangerous and safe areas. Areas that are not part of any block are always considered dangerous.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnazwxZzsJ55pjCfXFl6TOhX4sJY-FjcDvZCV7nGoRzEmPSW_zFkjTSs_6npGa3X0rEWNIUUwz5XA8OoMl7ASfmGLCpbcxm1XzElYLvLGP9u1B79Edn2pPWN7fy0D1MlJYrL2GS9VyDr7/s1600/survival.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnazwxZzsJ55pjCfXFl6TOhX4sJY-FjcDvZCV7nGoRzEmPSW_zFkjTSs_6npGa3X0rEWNIUUwz5XA8OoMl7ASfmGLCpbcxm1XzElYLvLGP9u1B79Edn2pPWN7fy0D1MlJYrL2GS9VyDr7/s320/survival.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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In dangerous areas players will take (200 damage per second) after a (10 second) delay. When there is only one block left, the “tiebreaker” to get a final survivor is that everyone left will take an additional (10 damage per second) until there is only one player left.<br />
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The end-block will not be known to players until the end, and the end-block is randomly selected at the start of the event. <br />
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In the first version of the event, your “Survival Number” will be shown, and we will run promotions and giveaways for those with the lowest average survival number over some event period (this is also subject to the design of the event).<br />
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<b>Possible addition: Resource Management</b><br />
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A big part of most survival type games is match-length resource management. In order to do that we are considering starting players off with a basic weapon (potentially the players’ secondary weapon), and only unlock their regular weaponry through pick-ups. The ammunition in these weapons will be limited, and players need to find ammunition pick-ups. Ammunition cannot be purchased at joker vending machines and/or ammunition during the match, or these items could provide a limited amount of ammunition instead. Weapon drops would be enabled in this mode so other players can pick up the weapons you drop. Weapon and ammo drops do not respawn.<br />
<b><br />Conclusion</b></div>
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If this event is successful (especially after initial input from the players), we hope to turn this (or some variation of this mode) into a new permanent mode alongside APB’s normal Mission Mode, Fight Club and now potentially Survival.<br />
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We look forward to your feedback and ongoing tweaking to these systems for the PC game. We also expect that survival mode will trigger some unusual behaviors in APB; for example since you can drive around with a buddy in your car shooting out the window, these kinds of collaborative built in mechanics means there will be some advantages to collaborating during survival mode at the start of the game, even though in the end you are bound to kill each other. There is a good chance APB’s version of survival will have its own flavor with some unique tension between collaboration and competition. In fact, we may want to explore this dynamic even further by encouraging initial collaboration turning into end-game competition.<br />
<b><br />Innova Migration </b><br />
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We’ve moved Innova to their own world (separate from our current EU world) since the Innova devs introduced weapons that we feel are imbalanced. Once ready, Innova players will be able to create a Gamersfirst.com account and transfer their character(s) over.<br />
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Once we’re ready, the Innova developers will send out an email blast containing a six-digit code that will be used to verify ownership of their APB Innova-account on Gamersfirst.com. If Innova players don’t receive a code for some reason they will be able to retrieve it with send-to-email functionality (sent to the email they registered Innova-APB with).<br />
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Note: We’ll be testing the Innova Migration on the OTW servers in the upcoming weeks. <br />
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<b>Contagion Event</b></div>
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<b><br /></b>Previously this event was held to introduce new weapon into APB. We’ll be using this event to have some variation in events in the game and provide players with a way to win some of the RAF rewards that are no longer being used. The only way to participate in the event is by being infected (killed) by the designated weapon. Once you’ve been killed by the weapon, you’ll receive a temporary version of the weapon and then you infect / kill xx amount of players with it to receive a title. If you have <a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/404518-contagion-event-title-suggestions-thread/" target="_blank">suggestions</a> for the Epidemic event titles, please post them to the forum thread.<br />
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<b>Engine Upgrade </b><br />
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Now that we’ve successfully launched a version of the new Engine on the console platforms, the majority of the general engine upgrade bugs relating to game-play and rendering are fixed. Right now a full regression is being done on the PC to confirm fixes. Platform specific optimizations are being evaluated and ported to PC - including multi-threaded rendering and GPU texture generation for customization which the PC version has never had before. </div>
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Once we are done with the first pass we expect to release a new engine version that can be tested by the community on a larger scale than we can achieve internally (especially with more versions of GFX cards and CPU varieties). With the feedback from that testing, we will fix the remaining issues and finalize the engine upgrade release. This all takes time and we appreciate the patience our community has shown while we work on the Engine Upgrade and bringing it all back to the PC. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-90278600980399840732017-04-17T13:29:00.000-07:002017-04-17T13:29:27.488-07:00Console Latency Issues and Network OutagesAt the start of the weekend we began seeing an issue on our PS4 environment. We initially thought it was due to the recent patch or seasonal event but as time went on the issue spread to our XB1 environment as well. We have now identified the issue to be related to a new type of DDOS attack against our servers which spams our network and is causing latency and connectivity issues within the game.<br />
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Today we also received approval for the Xbox One to be patched with the seasonal event however we’re holding off on patching while the DDOS issues are present. <br />
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We apologize for the disruptions and are working with our mitigation provider to combat the attacks moving forward.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-29644716607732049722017-04-06T09:42:00.001-07:002017-04-07T10:15:26.347-07:00PlayStation 4 Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With the soft launch finally done, we now have a new build being tested to resolve the key issues reported. The main issue so far has been the frame rate drop as new characters load in, which some players may have reported as lag. The cause is actually not “lag” (which would imply server or network issues), but the frame drops have to do with the custom character baking when new characters show up in the district, which is especially noticeable in the social district. <br />
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<b>Frame Render </b><br />
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As you know APB Reloaded gives you the ability to customize your characters to an unbelievably high level (one of our favorite features), but the downside is that the system creates the custom character textures and shapes in real-time based on each player’s character data, and then pushes the content to everyone else who happens to be in the same district. The code breaks this complex process down into smaller components and spreads the work over multiple frames, but there appears to be an issue with performance on PS4 which causes some of the computations to take considerably longer than expected when combined with real world customized characters and the number of characters that load in and out of a district in a session (especially in Social). We are right now working hard on a new build that will dramatically reduce this effect, and have been working on fixes we can quickly get in to the first patch. Then we are planning a more extensive overhaul in subsequent patches to eliminate the issue. <br />
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<b>Crash</b><br />
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Two thirds of the crashes from the first weekend were due to a single memory issue (again related to the complexity of real world custom characters), and we have identified the cause and are testing a fix in the live environment right now. Once it passes Sony QA we’ll push it out to live which should remove the main stability issue in that first patch.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-85885959846020391652017-03-30T14:31:00.000-07:002017-03-30T15:45:10.836-07:00Play Station 4 Soft Launch! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Spring has sprung in the US and with that we have exciting news! We’re happy to announce that the APB Reloaded PlayStation 4 soft launch starts during the next 24 hours. The US launch occurs at 8 AM PDT March 31, with most of the other regions launching at midnight their time.</div>
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The game will remain in a "Soft Launch" mode for the first 30 days (which mostly means it will have limited public announcements other than the formal launch announcement from the Publisher). During this 30 day period we encourage all current and former PC players to try the game and to give us feedback that we can incorporate into the upcoming updates (note: in order to access our private <a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/forum/1017-apb-reloaded-ps4/" target="_blank">APB PS4 forums</a>, you first have to log in to APB from a PS4 before you can use the forums).</div>
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As a "thank you" for helping test the game during the first month, we are giving out freebies to all players who log in AND we will be giving out "Founders" tags for those that put in more than 10 hours in game prior to the first patch (or during the first 30 days, whichever comes first). These will be delivered at patch time.</div>
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<b>Innova Migration</b><br />
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We’re still working hard on the migration as it has taken longer than originally anticipated, especially as it has collided with the PS4 launch. We are going through all items in the databases and doing some balance passes. Once we get closer to the launch of the migration, we will make a post asking for testers from the original Russian side to help us with testing out the processes. </div>
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<b>Engine Upgrade </b><br />
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Once we are out of the soft launch for the PS4 the team moves on to completing the Engine Upgrade work for the PC side. There is no estimation at this time, but we’ll keep you posted.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-773397586970294882017-02-07T21:32:00.000-08:002017-02-07T21:36:01.538-08:00Valentine's Day EventHello Everyone!<br />
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We hope the PC players enjoyed the Anarchy event! The Xbox One players will get to try it out with this upcoming patch along with the Valentine's day event.<br />
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<b>Innova Migration</b><br />
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With the news of Innova server closing down we’ve been working on the migration of all the accounts to our servers. We’ve decided to give Innova their own server (yes we’ll need a name), instead of migrating them into our existing communities. Once everything is finalized, we’ll have more details on how to proceed with the migration. Here is a FAQ we’ve put together for now and some items may change as we progress further into the process. We’re taking name suggestions in this thread for the new server.<br />
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<b>What will happen to player nicknames written in Cyrillic?</b><br />
We will support Cyrillic names on the new world we are migrating the players to. It will be on a first-come/first-serve basis, so character names will be migrated as-is if there are no conflicts (nobody has created a character with that name already). If there is a conflict, we will randomly assign them a new name and provide a free name change.<br />
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<b>What happens to banned Innova accounts?</b><br />
It will be a clean slate - we will allow all accounts to migrate their characters over.<br />
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<b>What happens if I have an account with Innova and GamersFirst using the same e-mail? Will they be merged?</b><br />
Players will need to login to an existing GamersFirst account or create a new account prior to their characters being migrated. The e-mail for the GamersFirst and Innova accounts do not need to match.<br />
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<b>Will you delete some of the content that players had, or will all items be present after the transfer?</b><br />
We are still reviewing the content that Innova players had and comparing it to what we support in our version of the game. We may need to remove any content that was not intended to be released to players such as in-development/incomplete clothing, weapons, etc. Besides those items, we plan to bring over all other content including the items created for the Innova build of the game. In the case of weapons, we may alter their stats slightly to maintain proper game balance with our weapons.<br />
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<b>What if I don’t have access to my e-mail address for Innova?</b><br />
The primary verification method for claiming accounts will be based on a code that Innova will e-mail to their players when the migration process is ready. The code will also be accessible by logging into their website.<br />
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<b>Valentine’s Day PC</b></div>
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Valentine's Event: Runs from the 8th of February until the 22nd of February at 10:00 AM (UTC). Earn various rewards and prizes for completing special Valentine's roles with the unique Valentine's weapons. Whether it is your first time or you are a returning player, here is your chance to earn theme, skins, weapons and many other prizes.</div>
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<b>New Mission Rewards</b></div>
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Players have a chance of winning new Valentine’s Day Gift Boxes with every mission to give away to that special someone. </div>
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<b>The 'Valentine's Massacre’ Event</b></div>
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Tracks kills with the following primary weapons:</div>
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STAR 556 'Love-Gun' - Gifted on login (please check your in-game mail)</div>
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Colby SNR 850 'Cherub' - Gifted on login (please check your in-game mail)</div>
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Colby M-1922 'Chopper' - Level 4 reward of the 'Valentine's Week Massacre' role</div>
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Joker SR15 'Casanova' - Available through Armas</div>
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Obeya CR762 'Heartbreaker' - Available through Armas</div>
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Colby CSG-20 'Speed-Dater' - Available through Armas</div>
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N-HVR 243 'Cupid's Arrow' - Available through Armas</div>
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STAR 556 'Love-Gun' R&D III - Available through Armas</div>
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Colby M-1922 'Big Chopper' - Available through Armas</div>
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The requirements and rewards for the ranks of the 'Valentine's Week Massacre' role are as follows:</div>
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Rank 1</div>
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Requirements: 50 kills</div>
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Reward: Death Theme 1</div>
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Rank 2</div>
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Requirements: 150 Kills</div>
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Reward: Love Heart Glasses</div>
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Rank 3</div>
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Requirements: 300 Kills</div>
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Reward: Death Theme 2</div>
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Rank 4</div>
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Requirements: 500 Kills</div>
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Reward: A leased M1922 (Tommy Gun) + Pink Preset Police Hat</div>
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Level 5 </div>
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Requirements: 750 Kills</div>
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Reward: 'Casanova' Title + Valentine's weapon skin</div>
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<b>The 'Snubby Love' Event</b></div>
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Tracks kills with the following secondary weapons:</div>
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Colby SNR 850 'Cherub' - Gifted on login (please check your in-game mail)</div>
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The levels for the ranks of the 'Snubby Love' role are as follows:</div>
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Rank 1</div>
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Requirements: 25 kills</div>
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Reward: Ophelia - Blonde Decal Unlock</div>
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Rank 2</div>
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Requirements: 75 Kills</div>
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Reward: Prentiss (for Enforcers) / Bloodroses (for Criminals) symbol</div>
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Rank 3</div>
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Requirements: 150 Kills</div>
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Reward:Ophelia - Red Head Decal Unlock</div>
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Rank 4</div>
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Requirements: 250 Kills</div>
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Reward: Colby SNR 850 'Cherub' unlock, so it can be purchased from Contacts at any time (including outside the event)</div>
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Level 5 </div>
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Requirements: 375 Kills</div>
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Reward: 'Cherub Chaser' Title</div>
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<b>The '7 Stages of Heartbreak' Event</b></div>
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The 7 Stages of Heartbreak is back! For every day you login, you'll earn the following rewards*:</div>
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Day 1 and 2 (Feb 8th and 9th): Title: "Shocked" </div>
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Day 3 and 4 (Feb 10th and 11th): Title: "Denying" </div>
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Day 5 and 6 (Feb 12th and 13th): Title: "Angry" </div>
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Day 7 and 8 (Feb 14th and 15th): Title: "Bargaining" </div>
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Day 9 and 10 (Feb 16th and 17th): Title: "Guilty" </div>
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Day 11 and 12 (Feb 18th and 19th): Title: "Depressed" </div>
<div>
Day 13 and 14 (Feb 20th and 21st): Title: "Accepting" </div>
<div>
Log in at least 7 days of the event: Title: “Forever Alone” & the event reward: "Quiver Backpack" clothing item</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<b>*PLEASE NOTE: </b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The login reward for 7 days and Title will not be received instantly, as they have to be processed through our external logging and then sent out to your account. </li>
<li>Login reward dates change at 10 AM UTC / 5:00 AM EST / 4:00 AM CST / 2:00 AM PST</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>Xbox One</b> </div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
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<b>Valentine’s Day Xbox One <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Valentine's Event: Runs from the 8th of February until the
22nd of February at 10:00 AM (UTC). Earn various rewards and prizes for
completing special Valentine's roles with the unique Valentine's weapons.
Whether it is your first time or you are a returning player, here is your
chance to earn joker tickets, skins, weapons and other prizes.<b> </b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>The 'Valentine's Massacre’ Event<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Tracks kills with the following primary weapons:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
STAR 556 'Love-Gun' - Gifted on login (please check your
in-game mail)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Colby SNR 850 'Cherub' - Gifted on login (please check your
in-game mail)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Colby M-1922 'Chopper' - Level 4 reward of the 'Valentine's
Week Massacre' role<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Joker SR15 'Casanova' - Available through Armas<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Obeya CR762 'Heartbreaker' - Available through Armas<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Colby CSG-20 'Speed-Dater' - Available through Armas<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
N-HVR 243 'Cupid's Arrow' - Available through Armas<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
STAR 556 'Love-Gun' R&D III - Available through
Armas<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Colby M-1922 'Big Chopper' - Available through Armas<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The requirements and rewards for the ranks of the
'Valentine's Week Massacre' role are as follows:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rank 1<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Requirements: 50 kills<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reward: 500 Joker Tickets<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rank 2<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Requirements: 150 Kills<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reward: Love Heart Glasses<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rank 3<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Requirements: 300 Kills<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reward: 200 Joker Tickets<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rank 4<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Requirements: 500 Kills<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reward: A leased M1922 (Tommy Gun) + Pink Preset Police Hat<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Level 5 <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Requirements: 750 Kills<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reward: 'Casanova' Title + Valentine's weapon skin<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The 'Snubby Love' Event<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tracks kills with the following secondary weapons:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Colby SNR 850 'Cherub' - Gifted on login (please check your
in-game mail)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The levels for the ranks of the 'Snubby Love' role are as
follows:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rank 1<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Requirements: 25 kills<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reward: Ophelia - Blonde Decal Unlock<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rank 2<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Requirements: 75 Kills<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reward: Prentiss (for Enforcers) / Bloodroses (for
Criminals) symbol<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rank 3<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Requirements: 150 Kills<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reward:Ophelia - Red Head Decal Unlock<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rank 4<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Requirements: 250 Kills<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reward: Colby SNR 850 'Cherub' unlock, so it can be
purchased from Contacts at any time (including outside the event)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Level 5 <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Requirements: 375 Kills<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reward: 'Cherub Chaser' Title<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The '7 Stages of Heartbreak' Event<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For every day you login,
you'll earn the following rewards*:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Day 1 and 2 (Feb 8<sup>th</sup> and 9<sup>th</sup>):
Title: "Shocked" <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Day 3 and 4 (Feb 10<sup>th</sup> and 11<sup>th</sup>):
Title: "Denying" <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Day 5 and 6 (Feb 12<sup>th</sup> and 13<sup>th</sup>):
Title: "Angry" <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Day 7 and 8 (Feb 14<sup>th</sup> and 15<sup>th</sup>):
Title: "Bargaining" <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Day 9 and 10 (Feb 16<sup>th</sup> and 17<sup>th</sup>):
Title: "Guilty" <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Day 11 and 12 (Feb 18<sup>th</sup> and 19<sup>th</sup>):
Title: "Depressed" <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Day 13 and 14 (Feb 20<sup>th</sup> and 21<sup>st</sup>):
Title: "Accepting" <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Log in at least 7 days of the event: Title: “Forever
Alone” & the event reward: "Quiver Backpack" clothing item </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>*PLEASE NOTE:</b> </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The login reward for 7 days and Title will not
be received instantly, as they have to be processed through our external
logging and then sent out to your account.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Login reward dates change at 10 AM UTC / 5:00 AM
EST / 4:00 AM CST / 2:00 AM PST</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Anarchy Event </b><b>Xbox One </b></div>
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<br /></div>
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When the event starts, all players are split into two teams. Unlike before, different faction members can be on the same team (it's Anarchy after all) and we use matchmaking to ensure the teams are fairly even. Groups are never split up, so make sure you and your friends are together before entering if you want to ensure you play together.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When you spawn, you won't have a primary weapon. Instead, we spawn them around the map. The game mode is a simple death-match, so it's up to you whether you want to search for a weapon of your choice, or head straight into combat with your secondary and grenades and take one from the enemy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you survive long enough, you'll start passively gaining score. You'll also start to gain a score multiplier that ticks up over time. If your score reaches above 500, you'll gain access to your primary weapon, meaning you don't have to search for weapons any-more. Careful though, when this happens you'll also be shown periodically to your enemies, giving them a chance to hunt you down.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the game progresses, and team lives go down, more weapons start spawning in different locations, providing more varied game-play. Legendary weapons will also start to appear, but be shown on the map. Best be quick, or be ready to kill whomever took it (friendly fire of course is disabled in this game).</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We would love to have your feedback on the event. Let us know what you think on the forums! </div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-37703746858142296292016-12-12T14:30:00.000-08:002016-12-13T18:43:03.567-08:00APB Reloaded: The 12 Deaths of CHRISTMAS 2016<div class="MsoNormal">
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The holidays are upon us and we’re getting ready for the
Wednesday release of the 12 Deaths of Christmas (we have it ready for
PlayStation 4 too in case it’s launched on time). There are two different
versions available of the event. The console version will have the introduction
of the Raptor 45 “Vulture” and “Hawk” while the PC version will have the Case
“The Bolo” NFCP 3 and Case “The Bolo”, more details on both events listed
below. We hope you enjoy these events! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The OTW server will be updated Wednesday with the
Christmas build for those that want a sneak peek. Remember you’ll need premium
to give it a try and please report any issues on the <a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/forum/1015-otw-bug-reports/" target="_blank">OTW bug forum</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’ll be completing the removal of most of the remaining
PunkBuster bans this week and an email will be sent out to those account
holders when this is completed (only accounts that qualify will have the bans
reversed, please see previous blog posts for more information). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From all of us at APB Reloaded, we’d like to wish you a
happy and safe holiday season!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
P.S. Don't forget PC players get to drive the decorated dump truck! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<img height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGNQ9A606p4iMjo7l11TCxYX1IeK_RE-tNsj7srmfZh4oHDHuwpOQ6099jV6HFtNHpLFPt2sUXqjq6odsrEYjsxqpDA4OyVZndpJSfQkSpxKsuyc9CJDqmuDzwqeVTUbY9x1tc4ZxPedT/s320/truck.png" width="320" /></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-size: 24px;"><span style="color: green;"><strong>APB Reloaded: The 12 Deaths of CHRISTMAS 2016</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-size: 24px;"><span style="color: green;"><strong><br /></strong></span></span></div>
PC APB Reloaded 2016 The 12 Deaths of Christmas<br />
<br />
Season’s greetings, and welcome to APB: Reloaded's Christmas 2016 event! Christmas dynamic events will be in Beacon this year. You can also still get standing with the Christmas Elves in the mission districts. Finally there’s the Secret Santa gift boxes that can be used to share weapons with your friends.<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: red;">Free-for-all Event (no teams)</span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Player's Objective:</strong></span></div>
Kill other players to advance weapon tiers and earn prizes (see below).</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Progression:</strong></span></div>
At the start of the game, players are given a weapon and they must advance through the weapon tiers until they reach the final tier - the first person to get a kill with the final tier weapon wins the game.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<strong><span style="color: green;">Tier Breakdown:</span></strong></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="Posted Image" class="bbc_img" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/cGrS8pt.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/cGrS8pt.png" height="141" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Further Information:</strong></span></div>
The HUD will show remaining score required, current weapon tier, current place and remaining time.<br />
When a player reaches the final tier, all players will be notified of who this player is.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Rewards:</strong></span></div>
12 Deaths of Christmas<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="Posted Image" class="bbc_img" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/GuUGsBb.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/GuUGsBb.png" height="113" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Secret Santa Boxes:</strong></span></div>
You will earn Secret Santa Boxes based on your performance during the 12 Deaths of Christmas Event - the better you do, the more boxes you will earn. You can then take these boxes into the regular Action Districts. Please see "Secret Santa Event" below for more details.<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<strong><span style="color: green;">Deck The Halls</span></strong></div>
<div>
Triggered by gaining score in the 12 Deaths of Christmas event, which is gained by Killing or Assisting during the mini-game. As such, this is a grind-challenge which all players can get after enough time, though skilled players will complete it a lot faster. This replaces last year's event, rewarding our new clothing asse<span style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">t.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;">Requirement Reward</span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="Posted Image" class="bbc_img" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/J4DB28i.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/J4DB28i.png" height="25" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: red;"><strong>NOTE: </strong>Players do not earn Score towards <em>"Deck The Halls" </em>for vehicle kills</span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-size: 24px;"><span style="color: green;"><strong>Snowball Fight</strong></span></span></div>
Pelt enemy players with snowballs to win prizes. Top prize gives you a Candy Cane Weapon Skin!</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="RFTzCBX.png" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/RFTzCBX.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/RFTzCBX.png" style="cursor: default; vertical-align: middle;" /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Snowball Wars</strong></span></div>
Take part in Snowball fights in the X-Mas Event district to complete this role. You get 1 point for participating in a snowball fight, and a bonus point if you win! Unlocks the Santa Hat, Reindeer Antlers and the Raptor 45 'Vulture'.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="Posted Image" class="bbc_img" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/JJQOq4g.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/JJQOq4g.png" style="vertical-align: middle;" /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Snowball Skirmish</strong></span></div>
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<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="Posted Image" class="bbc_img" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/CuDfxUr.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/CuDfxUr.png" height="65" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Secret Santa Event:</strong></span></div>
<div>
Players can now utilize the <span style="color: red; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">SECRET SANTA BOXES</span> earned through the<span style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span style="color: red; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">12 </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">DEATHS OF CHRISTMAS</span><span style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span>event (see above) in the main action districts.</div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
Secret Santa Boxes are a type of deployable that players can place at any location they please - other players can then interact with them to get randomly generated weapons as prizes.<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Secret Santa Boxes:</strong></span></div>
When deployed, a Secret Santa Box appears in the player's hands (their interaction with this box is limited to dropping, picking up and moving it around).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once the box is placed on the ground, all other players in the district (no faction restriction) can interact with the Secret Santa Box to win a random weapon, which will also have a random selection of modifications and a random skin.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: red;"><strong>NOTE: The player who placed the box can't take a prize.</strong></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<strong><span style="color: green;">Achievements and Rewards:</span></strong></div>
<div>
<b>Ho Ho Ho, Now I have a ... </b><br />
Kill 50 players with weapons you've taken from<span style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span style="color: red; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>SECRET SANTA BOXES</strong></span> to earn the Case "The Bolo: for purchase from a contact.</div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<strong style="color: green;">The Gift that keeps on Giving </strong></div>
Other players have killed a total of 100 players, using weapons they've picked up from a Secret Santa Box you've deployed. This will unlock the Christmas Holly weapon skin.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Returning Christmas Content - The Elves</strong></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: red;">Regular Action Districts - Elves:</span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
As with all years, there are Christmas elves in Financial District. These elves can be pledged to by the appropriate faction (Criminelf for Criminals and Elforcer for Enforcers) and by playing missions while pledged to them you can level them in the same way as a normal contact. They unlock the following based on the level:</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Contact Levels</strong></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="4FTVFAd.png" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/4FTVFAd.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/4FTVFAd.png" height="81" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
The Snowball Launcher and Snowball can be used to level the Snowball Fight role outside of the mini-game.</div>
<div>
<br />
Once the Elves have been completed they will also have a Daily Activity available for players to complete that is a repeatable challenge each day.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="x6OiS2z.png" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/x6OiS2z.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/x6OiS2z.png" style="cursor: default; vertical-align: middle;" /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
In addition to their progression, the elves also sell a number of unique titles<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>TITLES:</strong></span></div>
i. Naughty<br />
ii. Nice<br />
iii. The Red Nosed Criminal<br />
iv. The Red Nosed Enforcer</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: red;">All these titles can be bought from the Elves for 10 Joker Tickets (faction-specific titles are only for their respective faction)</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-size: 24px;"><span style="color: green;"><strong>APB Reloaded: The 12 Deaths of CHRISTMAS 2016</strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<b>Xbox One The 12 Deaths of Christmas</b><br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
Season’s greetings, and welcome to APB: Reloaded's Christmas 2016 event! Christmas dynamic events will be in Beacon this year. You can also still get standing with the Christmas Elves in the mission districts. Finally there’s the Secret Santa gift boxes that can be used to share weapons with your friends.<br />
<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-size: 24px;"><span style="color: green;"><strong>The 12 Deaths of Christmas</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: red;">Free-for-all Event (no teams)</span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Player's Objective:</strong></span></div>
Kill other players to advance weapon tiers and earn prizes (see below).<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Progression:</strong></span></div>
At the start of the game, players are given a weapon and they must advance through the weapon tiers until they reach the final tier - the first person to get a kill with the final tier weapon wins the game.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<strong><span style="color: green;">Tier Breakdown:</span></strong></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<strong><span style="color: green;"><br /></span></strong></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="fOh8tS7.png" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/fOh8tS7.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/fOh8tS7.png" height="185" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Further Information:</strong></span></div>
The HUD will show remaining score required, current weapon tier, current place and remaining time.<br />
When a player reaches the final tier, all players will be notified of who this player is.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Rewards:</strong></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="0a9haWL.png" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/0a9haWL.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/0a9haWL.png" height="161" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Secret Santa Boxes:</strong></span></div>
You will earn Secret Santa Boxes based on your performance during the 12 Deaths of Christmas Event - the better you do, the more boxes you will earn. You can then take these boxes into the regular Action Districts. Please see "Secret Santa Event" below for more details.<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<strong><span style="color: green;">Deck The Halls</span></strong></div>
Triggered by gaining score in the 12 Deaths of Christmas event, which is gained by Killing or Assisting during the mini-game. As such, this is a grind-challenge which all players can get after enough time, though skilled players will complete it a lot faster. This replaces last year's event, rewarding our new clothing asset.<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><b>Requirement Reward</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="dAPVye0.png" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/dAPVye0.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/dAPVye0.png" style="vertical-align: middle;" /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: red;"><strong>NOTE: </strong>Players do not earn Score towards <em>"Deck The Halls" </em>for vehicle kills</span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="font-size: 24px;"><span style="color: green;"><strong>Snowball Fight</strong></span></span></div>
Pelt enemy players with snowballs to win prizes. Top prize gives you a Candy Cane Weapon Skin!</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="RFTzCBX.png" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/RFTzCBX.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/RFTzCBX.png" height="68" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="320" /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Snowball Wars</strong></span></div>
Take part in Snowball fights in the X-Mas Event district to complete this role. You get 1 point for participating in a snowball fight, and a bonus point if you win! Unlocks the Santa Hat, Reindeer Antlers and the Raptor 45 'Vulture'.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="Posted Image" class="bbc_img" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/JJQOq4g.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/JJQOq4g.png" height="103" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Secret Santa Event:</strong></span></div>
<div>
Players can now utilize the <span style="color: red; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">SECRET SANTA BOXES</span><span style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span>earned through the<span style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span style="color: red; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">12 </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">DEATHS OF CHRISTMAS</span><span style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span>event (see above) in the main action districts.</div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
Secret Santa Boxes are a new type of deployable that players can place at any location they please - other players can then interact with them to get randomly generated weapons as prizes.<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Secret Santa Boxes:</strong></span></div>
When deployed, a Secret Santa Box appears in the player's hands (their interaction with this box is limited to dropping, picking up and moving it around).</div>
<div>
<br />
Once the box is placed on the ground, all other players in the district (no faction restriction) can interact with the Secret Santa Box to win a random weapon, which will also have a random selection of modifications and a random skin.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: red;"><strong>NOTE: The player who placed the box can't take a prize.</strong></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<strong><span style="color: green;">Achievements and Rewards:</span></strong></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Ho Ho Ho, Now I have a ... </b><br />
Kill 50 players with weapons you've taken from<span style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span style="color: red; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>SECRET SANTA BOXES</strong></span><span style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span>to earn the Raptor 45 'Hawk' for purchase from a contact.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>The Gift that keeps on Giving </strong></span></div>
Other players have killed a total of 100 players, using weapons they've picked up from a Secret Santa Box you've deployed. This will unlock the Christmas Holly weapon skin.<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Christmas Content - The Elves</strong></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong><br /></strong></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: red;"><b>Regular Action Districts - Elves:</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div>
Christmas elves in Financial District. These elves can be pledged to by the appropriate faction (Criminelf for Criminals and Elforcer for Enforcers) and by playing missions while pledged to them you can level them in the same way as a normal contact. They unlock the following based on the level:<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>Contact Levels</strong></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong><br /></strong></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="4FTVFAd.png" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/4FTVFAd.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/4FTVFAd.png" height="81" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
The Snowball Launcher and Snowball can be used to level the Snowball Fight role outside of the mini-game.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once the Elves have been completed they will also have a Daily Activity available for players to complete that is a repeatable challenge each day.<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<img alt="x6OiS2z.png" data-cke-saved-src="http://i.imgur.com/x6OiS2z.png" src="http://i.imgur.com/x6OiS2z.png" style="vertical-align: middle;" /></div>
<br />
<br />
In addition to their progression, the elves also sell a number of unique titles</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong>TITLES:</strong></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: green;"><strong><br /></strong></span></div>
i. Naughty<br />
ii. Nice<br />
iii. The Red Nosed Criminal<br />
iv. The Red Nosed Enforcer<br />
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: red;">All these titles can be bought from the Elves for 10 Joker Tickets (faction-specific titles are only for their respective faction)</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #bcbcbc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-65303948332845671392016-11-14T18:59:00.001-08:002016-11-14T19:57:33.586-08:00November 2016 Update! Hello Everyone!<br />
<br />
November is upon us and the next few weeks will fly by as we head on into the holiday season. The team continues to work on the PlayStation 4 release, and we’re crossing our fingers but not holding our breath for a Christmas launch (more information below). Black Friday and Cyber Monday are quickly approaching, let us know on the <a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/401326-blog-post-november-2016-update/">forums</a> what you’d like to see on sale for these two special sale dates.<br />
<br />
<div>
<b>PunkBuster Update:</b><br />
<br />
We’ve now removed PunkBuster from the launcher and it is safe to remove it from your computer. We’ll also remove it from the installer in due time, but for
now if you need to install APB Reloaded again you may uninstall PunkBuster
afterwards.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
In the last blog post I mentioned that we were releasing the PunkBuster bans from the last year. We did and we’ve had very few accounts return to the banned side after the release, so we’ve decided to go back another year and release more PunkBuster banned accounts. The goal is to have all accounts that were banned by PunkBuster reversed, by Christmas. In the next few weeks you’ll start to see more posts about the reversal. If you’ve been banned in the past by PunkBuster keep watch of your email and we’ll let you know when you have access again. <br />
<br />
A few things to note on these reversals:<br />
<br />
<b>Note</b>: <br />
<ul>
<li>If your account was multiple banned which means by PunkBuster and FairFight, or for another Terms of Service violation and PunkBuster, your account will not be unbanned. </li>
<li>Do not contact support to be unbanned. Once the unban process is completed, you’ll receive an email letting you know your account was unbanned. </li>
</ul>
<b>Cheat Investigation</b><br />
<br />
Since removing PunkBuster and fine tuning FairFight, we continue to monitor the data we feed to FairFight daily. While reviewing this data, we’ve identified a potential
false positive with one particular ruleset, so in good faith we’re going to
reverse those bans (on Tuesday afternoon) and monitor the accounts closely. We have worked with
the GameBlocks team to identify the 71 accounts that were banned due to this
particular ruleset and we’ll be reaching out to the account holders via email on Tuesday. Please do not contact support, they have no information on the accounts that will be reversed at this time.<br />
<br />
<b>Note:</b> The particular ruleset was disabled on Friday, and re-enabled later in the day.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<b>Xbox One</b><br />
<br />
We’ll be removing the Halloween event on Wednesday, so if you’ve not completed the event please do so before the maintenance. We are also working on a patch that will have some bug fixes and the Christmas event. Keep watch on the console forums for more information regarding this update. <br />
<br />
<b>PlayStation 4</b><br />
<br />
We’ve got our fingers crossed for a launch prior to Christmas but we’re at Sony’s mercy. While we’re hoping for the best, we still continue to work on PS4 and we’ll let you know once we have more information on the launch date. <br />
<br />
<b>Christmas Event 2016</b><br />
<br />
I can't believe we're talking about Christmas already! In the next few weeks, we’ll be publishing the Christmas event to the OTW server. We ask that if you have time to test, please take a test drive of the event and report any issues. We will have new titles for the event and some other goodies. More information will be posted in the next few weeks, for now enjoy some images for the event! </div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGNQ9A606p4iMjo7l11TCxYX1IeK_RE-tNsj7srmfZh4oHDHuwpOQ6099jV6HFtNHpLFPt2sUXqjq6odsrEYjsxqpDA4OyVZndpJSfQkSpxKsuyc9CJDqmuDzwqeVTUbY9x1tc4ZxPedT/s1600/truck.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGNQ9A606p4iMjo7l11TCxYX1IeK_RE-tNsj7srmfZh4oHDHuwpOQ6099jV6HFtNHpLFPt2sUXqjq6odsrEYjsxqpDA4OyVZndpJSfQkSpxKsuyc9CJDqmuDzwqeVTUbY9x1tc4ZxPedT/s320/truck.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHUPZiq3cpCblvSJXfH4wnt5YH6_UvQ-ud0yvOavmJJZMGrD0rzWLXchLU6SZtKgZKlBvPhtMo5t2MzTGNZxyN1nRLdIdCue7ohJvtCTJfXDBOTp63B4h4Rr0T9pS8fgwxW8HU5ePSuLaM/s1600/female.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHUPZiq3cpCblvSJXfH4wnt5YH6_UvQ-ud0yvOavmJJZMGrD0rzWLXchLU6SZtKgZKlBvPhtMo5t2MzTGNZxyN1nRLdIdCue7ohJvtCTJfXDBOTp63B4h4Rr0T9pS8fgwxW8HU5ePSuLaM/s320/female.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-5496744060976945782016-10-12T21:57:00.001-07:002016-10-12T22:47:17.491-07:00The scary not so scary Halloween edition blog postHello Everyone!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is my 4<sup>th</sup> blog post and you would think
these would get easier as time goes by, but they don’t as it turns
out! =) We have a few
things to talk about since our last blog post, and if you’re not one to visit
the forums, you may have missed out on some information. I will
provide a brief recap for the less forum inclined below.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Punk Buster melt down</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t go out of town often for business, but rest assured
that when I do, something will break. On October 1<sup>st</sup>, PunkBuster
had a major melt down and started banning all players upon login. Once
the team realized what was happening, PunkBuster was disabled and all
bans relating to the incident were reversed. We currently have PunkBuster
disabled and have not made a decision regarding if PunkBuster will stay or
if it will go away permanently. We have seen feedback from players
that their in-game performance has been much better with PunkBuster
turned off. We’ll keep that in mind when deciding its fate. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>FairFight on steroids</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While PunkBuster is recovering, we have been working
with GameBlocks to automate more of what FairFight does and do
some fine tuning. FairFight will also do player kicks now if it
suspects someone is cheating. This kick is a warning to clean up their act.
If the person doesn’t change their ways, then FairFight will act
accordingly with a ban. We will not say what triggers the
kick, just like we won’t define anything FairFight does. Needless to say, it
has been on a banning spree. FairFight is almost completely
automated, with little intervention from GMs. This has made a huge
impact on cheaters, and players and GMs alike are noticing less cheaters ingame
as well. Keep in mind not everyone is a cheater and just because
you think they cheat, it doesn’t mean they do. There are some really
good players in our game, and while you may think they cheat, they’re not…
unless you see their name being banned by FairFight of course! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>2<sup>nd</sup> Chance for Punk Buster bans in last 30
days</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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On October 7<sup>th</sup>, we <span style="color: #0563c1;"><a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/400597-punkbuster-banned-accounts-last-30-days/" target="_BLANK">removed the bans</a></span> from
over 450 accounts that were banned by PunkBuster in the last 30 days
(From September 1). This is a chance for those players to prove that they
deserve a 2<sup>nd</sup> chance at playing the game
without cheating. So far a little over ¾ of the unbanned accounts have
logged in and only 10 accounts couldn’t play by the rules. Since the 2<sup>nd</sup>
chance is going so well, we’ll be going back one year and releasing those PunkBuster
bans over the next few days. Keep watch of our <a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/" target="_BLANK"><span style="color: #0563c1;">forums</span></a>
for more information on when this will occur. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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A few things to note on these reversals:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Note: </span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">If your
account was multiple banned which means by PunkBuster and FairFight,
or for another Terms of Service violation and PunkBuster, your
account will <i>not </i>be unbanned. </span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Do
not contact support to be unbanned</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">. Once the unban process is completed, you’ll
receive an email letting you know your account was unbanned. </span></li>
<li>·<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 10.5pt;">PLEASE,
DO NOT CONTACT SUPPORT TO BE UNBANNED.</span></i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 10.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> If you contact support regarding
this, we’ll not give you a 2<sup>nd</sup> chance, so be patient.</span> </li>
</ul>
<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Xbox One</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’ve submitted a build for certification<b>,</b> and once
it is approved<b>,</b> we’ll get this out to our players. You’ll then be able
to participate in the Halloween Event! More information will be posted about
how the event will work for <b>you once</b> we’re ready to patch. Also,
we’ll be addressing some crash issues that players have been experiencing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>PlayStation 4 </b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I’m sure you’ve noticed that the PS4 release has been pushed
out. We were hoping we wouldn’t have to push the release beyond September,
since we’re now going to be hitting Sony’s very busy months. We’re hoping
that we can get in line for a release in the next few weeks, and hopefully out
to everyone by Christmas. That’s our hopes, but reality is once we have a
build in, we’ll wait on Sony to tell us if it passes, and when it’ll be slated
for release. Once we’ve submitted our final build for review, I’ll
post and keep you updated. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>HALLOWEEN 2016!!!</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Happy Early Halloween! We’re aiming at releasing a
patch tomorrow which will enable Halloween for the PC community.
Maintenance will be at 3 PM UTC, unless we have any issues reported
overnight that may postpone the event by a day or two. <o:p></o:p></div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: orange;">Halloween 2016 Horseman Event</span></b></h2>
The rules for the event are simple:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Collect X amount of pumpkins to become the HORSEMAN and start the event (Timer Starts).</li>
<li>The HORSEMAN must kill other players to convert them HORSEMAN’S army (SOLDIERS).</li>
<li>SOLDIERS must kill other players to recruit them into the HORSEMAN’S army.</li>
<li>SURVIVORS must avoid being killed, till time runs out (Timer Ends).</li>
</ol>
<br />
<b>NOTE:</b> SURVIVORS blip on the HORSEMAN’S army's radar when the bell tolls, signifying that the HORSEMAN Event is coming to an end...keep fighting, running or hiding to survive.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;"><b>ADDITIONAL NOTES:</b></span><br />
<br />
<b>HORSEMAN</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>BUFFED UP HEALTH, FLARE GUN and a custom steed ENVEGAS</li>
<li>EARN POINTS BY KILLING SURVIVORS</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>SOLDIERS</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>ABLE TO RE-SPAWN MULTIPLE TIMES WITHOUT PENALTY</li>
<li>EARN POINTS FOR KILLING SURVIVORS</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>SURVIVORS</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>EARN POINTS FOR SURVIVING</li>
<li>EARN EXTRA POINTS FOR KILLING AND BECOMING THE HORSEMAN</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b><span style="color: orange;">PRIZES AND REWARDS</span></b><br />
<br />
Achievements, titles and a new backpack can all be won and earned in this year’s event.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXSeHD7vMy_PXxeQsOugZ4tSOLhmJR3lWy5gG75CNEq73X-O-1Cv6Yu3TcblDke261eoL0jzIcZxMiguCYup4PiuBcG_VWYIChlPfn2X1MjOOigtsGbOnagKT5UAy4mV2VW6oxLEJn2CXR/s1600/apb+halloween.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXSeHD7vMy_PXxeQsOugZ4tSOLhmJR3lWy5gG75CNEq73X-O-1Cv6Yu3TcblDke261eoL0jzIcZxMiguCYup4PiuBcG_VWYIChlPfn2X1MjOOigtsGbOnagKT5UAy4mV2VW6oxLEJn2CXR/s320/apb+halloween.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>The titles are:</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>SURVIVORS - STILL ALIVE</li>
<li>HEADLESS HORSEMAN - LEVEL HEADED</li>
<li>PUMPKIN SOLDIER - THE PUMPKIN MENACE</li>
</ul>
<br />
Participate 10 times in the Headless Horseman Event 2016 :<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>PARTICIPATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE</li>
</ul>
<div>
That about sums up everything, enjoy the event and have a Happy Halloween! </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Tiggs</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-69841567817576125632016-09-26T16:25:00.002-07:002016-09-26T16:27:44.229-07:00Happy Fall! <div class="MsoNormal">
Happy Fall Everyone!</div>
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<br /></div>
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19 years ago a game called Ultima Online released and I had
no idea how much it would change my life. Ultima Online is the first game
I started working on in this industry, and back in those days, the worst we
dealt with from players were dupes, scams and macroing while unattended.
Today companies still deal with dupes and scams, however cheats
have become more sophisticated. It’s a constant cat vs mouse game, we
update our cheat detection, cheat makers will up their game on cheats being
detected and so on. We’re not hiding from the fact that there are cheats out
there for our game or other games, and we are constantly working on ways to
combat cheating. PunkBuster and Fairfight are a couple of the ways that we do
this, and we have other means at our disposal. Sometimes you may feel
we’re not doing anything, but we assure you, that this is something we address
very often within our game. Additionally, we’re also working with
Gameblocks to get Fairfight automated; this will take some time to implement
but it’s a goal we’re working towards. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Hoplon migration has passed our internal testing and we’ll
be moving it to external testing later this week. Those that have signed up to
assist with account testing will be receiving an email for testing within the
next week or two. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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We’ll be getting a new release to the OTW servers which will
have the Halloween event for testing. This year we’ll have a new customizable
backpack and we hope you like it (see image below). The OTW server
will also be changing and accessible by players with a premium. More
information on this as we get closer to testing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Xbox One will be seeing an update in the next few weeks
which will also include the Halloween event. More information on this as we get
closer to the release date. We continue to work on the PS4, and it’s
getting closer! After that Engine Upgrade! </div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you’re attending Twitch con let us know <a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/400252-blog-post-happy-fall/" target="_blank">here </a>and maybe Tiggs or CapnJosh can get a chance to meet you. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixk54wTufZIDWM7-M6qVnhIctRhZY8pFLGFHEE0mPo0lsXM-NJK4-LUbJYHIMDbwtJ2HQSdRvRlTAF1ljLDjZ38aKjhLXOvmhWT-9bSZzOaC590QnEcpx70E3lSlAMS1j7HF2zlS1b_8Bk/s1600/apb+halloween.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixk54wTufZIDWM7-M6qVnhIctRhZY8pFLGFHEE0mPo0lsXM-NJK4-LUbJYHIMDbwtJ2HQSdRvRlTAF1ljLDjZ38aKjhLXOvmhWT-9bSZzOaC590QnEcpx70E3lSlAMS1j7HF2zlS1b_8Bk/s320/apb+halloween.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933631983274710403.post-14741536891719281662016-08-16T16:59:00.000-07:002016-08-16T17:00:44.271-07:00Recent Happenings and More <div class="MsoNormal">
Howdy!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not much of a blogging gal, but I’m trying my best. Here
is what has happened since our last blog post. We’ve accomplished many small
tasks while the team focuses on PS4, and I’ll play catch up for those that
haven’t been hanging out on the forums.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Introducing the <a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/398621-introducing-the-mod-squad/#entry4384791" target="_blank">Mod Squad</a>. This thread was a long time coming, and is about getting to know those that help out on the forums.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Welcome back to our APB Brazilian players. </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’ve lifted the
IP block for Brazil and are working with Hoplon on migrating you back to our
service. There will be a database copy
on August 22<sup>nd</sup> and Hoplon will be shutting down their APB services on August 28<sup>th</sup>. We will have more information about the
migration after we look over the database copy.
Of note, Brazil and a bunch of other countries can now access APB using
Steam. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Event Tracker </b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the existing team busy working on PS4, the community is
pulling together and helping with event <a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/index.php?showtopic=398618&view=findpost&p=4384708" target="_blank">suggestions</a>, and some of these
community-suggested events have already rolled out to you. You’ll see who suggested the event in the
event tracker UI, so jump into the discussion and provide your feedback for
future events. Some events may have a
few bugs (we’re still getting the kinks out), so if an event doesn’t work don’t
worry, we’ll get you a prize a few days later as long as you give it a
try. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Armas Weapon Free Trials</b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We reset all weapon free trials
on Armas and added the free trial option to all weapons (excluding those added
in the last week to Armas). We will make
sure that the free trial option will be reset again on a consistent basis
(every 3 months is what we’re aiming for).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>New Armas items</b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Based on feedback from players we’ve done
some digging and have released some items on Armas that were not available previously. Check out the Armas featured tab to see
what’s available. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>District Max Capacity </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On Friday we lowered the
districts to a max of 80. We’re monitoring this to see how it impacts
performance for the player-base. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Things we’re looking into (this does not mean it will happen;
we’re in an exploratory stage)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">District Queuing - We're looking into this. We
may be able to salvage some of the older code from the RTW days and make it
workable with our modern game client and server.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Seeing what other items are available to add in
the mix. We have a really talented community with a lot of knowledge of past
and present APB content. We're reading your comments on this and will continue
to see what's feasible.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">More daily events – check the event tracker
every day! You never know what you might find if you read the description for
the events.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">We’re in touch with our friends at Innova and
investigating what items and events we can use to give our players more
content.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Armas Pricing - We're evaluating our options
regarding pricing and making costs more uniform across weapon types. There are
clear gaps in the logic for pricing where some items are over-priced and others
are under-priced. When we have more information to share we will.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Looking into the ability to have player content
added to the Joker Store, how long this would take, and legalities.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Adding to Loyalty rewards to those that are existing. </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Investigating the option of having open test
servers vs closed. </span> </li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Community Discussion:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s a good one I’d love your thoughts on: What would be
your priority for the rest of the year if you were calling the shots? Tell us <a href="http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/399048-blog-post-recent-happenings-and-more/" target="_blank">here</a>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Complete the Engine Upgrade and no content
releases</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Put the Engine Upgrade to the side and release
new content</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Define
what you feel would be new content</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Other thoughts and suggestions?</span></li>
</ul>
I'll end this update with this funny moments in APB <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRH1lmhzn_o" target="_blank">video</a>. Warning: Don't drink and watch this video, it may cause spewing!<br />
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Have a great week. </div>
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